


The Leader of the Pack

by kittykatknits



Category: A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Historical, Alternate Universe - The 1950s, F/M, Fluff, Jon is a Bastard, Jon is a Greaser, Jon is in a Motorcycle Gang, Light Angst, Not a Grease AU, Secret Relationship, Smut
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-06
Updated: 2018-07-27
Packaged: 2019-03-27 17:05:36
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 22,873
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13885254
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kittykatknits/pseuds/kittykatknits
Summary: The year is 1958.It's the first day of school and Sansa Stark has just met Jon Snow, a greaser from the wrong side of the tracks. Sansa knows he's the exact sort of boy she's always been warned about, but it doesn't matter, because she's already falling for the leader of the pack.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [vivilove](https://archiveofourown.org/users/vivilove/gifts).



> A few things to know before reading:  
> 1\. I gave Jon the exact make/model/year motorcycle that Marlon Brando drove in the movie The Wild Ones.  
> 2\. This starts out in August of 1958 (a Monday to be specific) and I've made every effort to keep this as historically accurate as I can.  
> 3\. Every movie or song referenced is appropriate for the very specific time this takes place. Any brands or prices mentioned is accurate. I researched the slang and language that would have been spoken by teens at the time and reflected it accordingly.  
> 4\. The school Jon describes is based upon a high school I know built in 1949.  
> 5\. Basically, if it didn't exist yet, it isn't in this fic.  
> 6\. I'm not planning long note sections like I do in my other fic (Go West, Jon Snow) but I will provide more detail if readers think it is helpful. 
> 
> Most importantly, for anyone who may be familiar with the song I based the title of this fic on: Jon will not be dying at any point during this story.  
> One more thing: I changed the tags on this from Angst to Light Angst based upon some comments. The angst tag is in here because of the prejudice Jon has/will face based upon the circumstances of his birth and his social/economic class. The angst tag was included since both Jon and Sansa will be dealing with that in this story, together. 
> 
> So, all that said, welcome to a world where The Blob was one of the biggest movies of the year and Elvis just wanted to be your teddy bear...

August 25th, 1958

Jon slammed the switch on his old metal alarm clock, desperately trying to turn off its obnoxious clanging. He shoved at the bed sheet, sat up, and rubbed his eyes in an effort to wake himself up. The house was quiet other than the sound of the bed’s metal frame squeaking from his movements. His mother was still asleep then. Jon turned on the radio, keeping the sound real low.

_This is the Red Viper at WWFL radio, wishing all you young cats a swell first day back at school. Let’s start the new year off right, with Elvis reminding us, no matter where we go it’s time for rock and roll…._

_The warden threw a party in the county jail_

_The prison band was there and they began to wail…._

He dressed quickly, putting on a plain white t-shirt, a pair of spanking new dark blue Levis, black leather belt, and black steel-tipped boots. Jon bobbed his head to the song’s guitar sound as he cuffed the bottom of his jeans and combed back his curly hair. He wasn’t one for putting Vaseline or DAX in his locks, too much hassle. Last, he grabbed a leather motorcycle jacket, admiring his gang’s white wolf emblazoned on the back, before pulling it over his shoulders.

Jon stared at his reflection in the small mirror over his dresser and nodded, satisfied. He was only a few weeks from his eighteenth birthday and almost done with school forever. The last chords of _Jailhouse Rock_ came over the air, telling him to do the rock with Elvis. Jon loved the king but he remembered that month last year, there’d been no warden throwing him a party. Ricky Nelson came on next, complaining about being a fool over some girl. Jon snarled with dislike and clicked the radio off.

He tiptoed out of his room, keeping to the wall’s edge to avoid the creak of the wood floors. It was only a few steps to their kitchen where he pulled a tub of margarine and some sliced bread from the fridge. There was still a bottle of milk left too. Jon stuck the bread in the toaster and waited.

“Well, look at you. Only one year left and my baby will have a high school diploma.” If he didn’t get himself arrested or expelled, that went unsaid. Jon’s dad probably couldn’t save him a second time.

Jon turned away from the toaster to face his mom. Lyanna Snow looked half asleep, droopy eyed and hair uncombed. She had on her old green bathrobe too. “Ma! I’m real sorry. I tried not to wake you up,” he said guiltily.

His mother worked most nights, cleaning offices. “I’m not going to miss my boy’s first day of senior year.” She took the glass from his hand. “I’ll pour you some milk.”

He ate at the counter, listening to his mother’s lectures on good grades and paying attention listening to the teacher. None of it mattered, he wasn’t going to college. Jon had just finished his last bite when the back door opened. He knew it was his usual pals, he didn’t bother checking..

“Pyp and Grenn, good morning boys. How are you?”

“Morning, Ms. Snow,” the both answered, speaking over each other. Pyp wore a black t-shirt while Grenn had on white, same as him. They both sported duck tales, hair slicked back and wet. They wore the same black leather jacket as him too, although the white wolf on Pyp’s was newer. He’d only joined up last year.

“Alright, let’s make like a tree,” Jon said. He noticed the dirty dishes still in the sink from his dinner the night before. “I’ll wash ‘em when I get home from school. You don’t need to worry about it.”

They said their goodbyes and marched out of the house, making use of the front door this time. His bike sat waiting for him, under the car park where he’d left it the night before. It was a 1950 Triumph Thunderbird and he loved it more than anything. He’d worked an entire summer for Mr. Noye two years ago to save up the money for it. Jon had done all needed repairs and painted it a custom dark gray too.

Pyp combed back his hair and the three of them pulled on their helmets. Jon stuck the key in the ignition, turned on the choke, and pushed down. He let it rev a few times before driving away, crossing the railroad tracks to Winterfell High School.

*****

Sansa stood in her room, swaying to Ricky Nelson.

_I used to play around with hearts that hastened at my call_

_But when I met that little girl I knew that I would fall_

 She thought Ricky was the dreamiest. Her and Jeyne watched _Ozzie and Harriet_ together almost every week just to see Ricky on television. She even had a couple pictures of him on one of the walls close to her bed. Her room featured a white canopy bed with one wall painted a pretty shade of light yellow. Wallpaper decorated the other three. Her and Robb were the only siblings to have large closets of their own too.

Sansa stood in front of the long mirror next to her dresser and decided she was satisfied with her appearance. She wore a pink circle skirt and matching blouse. It featured tiny petals as a decorative detail and the blouse had pearl buttons up the front. Her white cardigan completed the ensemble. She applied a final coat of pink lipstick and and a dab of powder before turning the radio off and leaving her room.

The Stark family kitchen was alive with activity, her father sitting at the head of the table to read his newspaper. Her mother was moving between their refrigerator and stove to prepare breakfast for everyone.

“Good morning, Daddy. Anything important in the news?” Sansa kissed her father’s cheek before sitting in the empty seat next to him.

Ned Stark dropped the corner of his paper down to peer at her. “Economists are talking of whether a recession is coming. Nothing to concern you though.”

Sansa didn’t worry about any recession. Her father was an attorney and she figured people needed attorneys, recession or not. She noticed Arya for the first time, wearing a pair of blue pedal pushers with her hair in a low braid at the nape of her neck. Sansa frowned disapprovingly. “Arya, if you’d like, I can do your hair for you before school. We have plenty of time.”

“I like my hair just fine, thank you.” Arya went back to her food.

It would be useless to even mention wearing pants to school so Sansa wisely held her tongue. She sipped her hot tea and nibbled at some dry toast instead. “Do we have any fruit?”

Catelyn Stark set half a chilled grapefruit in front of her. “I sprinkled some of that new Sweet n’ Low on it for you.” She sat down opposite her husband to share the second half of grapefruit. “I have a meeting with the garden club today but I’ll be home before school lets out.”

Sansa ate carefully, not wanting to get any of the sticky juice on her fingers or new clothes.

“You ready?” asked Robb.

She was. Sansa jumped up, eager to start another school year. Arya had already refused the offer, insisting on walking with her friend Gendry who lived down the street.

“Wait one minute,” said her father. “It’s about that car you keep on wanting to borrow.”

Poor Robb paled. Sansa wondered if he’d snuck out recently and got caught. “Yes, sir?”

“You’re a senior in high school and will be going off to college next year. It seems to me a young man in your position needs a car of his own.” He grinned slyly at her brother, waiting for him to catch on.

Rob burst to his feet and let out several whooping sounds. After a round of congratulations, they left for school, only to find his friend Theon already waiting on the front hood. It was just a Bel Air but still, Sansa thought it was a nice enough car, as nice as a car could be.

Theon whistled when he saw her. “Hey there, hot mama.”

Sansa felt herself blushing even as she tried not too. She was a junior in high school now and juniors did not turn red over a compliment from a boy. “Thank you, Theon.”

“Lay off my sister,” said Robb.

The three of them climbed into her brother’s new car and drove off.

****

Jon sat on his bike in the parking space he shared with his two pals. He was only half listening to Pyp and Grenn argue over what type of school year it would be. Jon already knew, the same as the year before and the year before that. Further down the lot, he saw a new Bel Air drive in and park. He stared at it, mildly curious, as two frats wearing letterman jackets came out. He recognized them both. Theon Greyjoy still had the same flat top hair as last year while Robb Stark had one of those smoothly combed Ivy Leagues. They looked as if they picked their clothes right out of the latest JC Penneys catalog. The football team’s star players, seniors same as him, and they’d never spoken a word to each other.

It was the third figure that captured his attention though. Sansa Stark, dressed in pink with her thick auburn hair pulled into a ponytail and little tendrils framing her face. An image of a sweet lollipop, straight from the candy store, came to him. Pretty, perfect, and future prom queen; Jon doubted she even knew he existed. Even if she did, he’d bet a hundred dollars her brother and his friends wouldn’t let her to talk to the likes of him. If he had a hundred dollars, that was.

“Hey man, quit your staring. She’s one of the socs.” Grenn twisted his lips dismissively before pulling out a comb to smooth his duck back in place.

Jon knew what his friend meant, he’d been hearing it his whole life. He wasn’t allowed to defend his mother or fight back. He had to take it when kids on the playground called him a bastard or he’d just get suspended again. He wouldn’t be allowed to date Sansa Stark either. Jon snorted. “Yeah man, I bet she wouldn’t even let me get to first base.” His pals laughed and went back to talking.

Sansa Stark turned slowly and faced him from across the lot. Even with the distance between them, Jon got the impression she was staring right at him. She broke into a wide, gleeful grin and waved frantically in his direction. Another girl joined her, this one with dark brown hair. She hadn’t noticed him at all.

The bell rang and a bunch of kids raced in the building. Jon didn’t bother moving, all he was going to miss was the Pledge of Allegiance and a bunch of announcements anyhow. Winterfell High was built ten years ago with a main building, made of red brick, another building for math and science, the gym, and shop. Supposedly, there were tunnels and bomb shelters under them all in case of nuclear war but he’d never seen them. Jon didn’t see a point to them, if the Red were coming he was probably a dead man anyways.

“We meeting at Hot Pies after school?” asked Pyp.

“The rest of the gang will be there. I want a Vanilla Coke,” said Grenn.

“You always want a Vanilla Coke,” Jon pointed out. He was always ready to eat. “C’mon, let’s go. I’ve got science again.”

“You shouldn’t have flunked it last year, man,” said Grenn. He went off towards the school’s main entrance, leaving him and Pyp alone.

“It isn’t my fault Ms. Mormont hated me, mean old woman,” Jon groused.

“She hated you because you never did your work.” Pyp pulled his comb out to smooth back his hair. He started scuffing his boots against the blacktop nervously, avoiding eye contact. “Any chance I could spend a couple nights over at your place?”

That meant Pyp’s father was on a bender again. He had an older brother that joined the Navy right after graduating a couple years ago and hadn’t been home since so he was the only one left around.  Pyp was also small but his father wasn’t.  “Anytime, you know it.” Jon took a small step back, pretending not to notice his friend’s discomfort. “Let’s go. Time to meet my new chemistry lab partner.”

Jon popped his leather jacket’s collar and the two of them slowly meandered towards the main building. There, they said goodbyes and he went off in search of his first class of the day. As Jon walked, Mr. Halfhand, the school principal, came over the intercom wishing his students a great school year. The hallway was emptied, other than a few other stragglers running to their classes. Jon did not join in, slowing his pace instead. It didn’t matter, he arrived at his class as soon as the Pledge of Allegiance finished and his fellow students were sitting back in their seats.

“Mr. Snow,” his teacher huffed at his appearance. She was a scary and intimidating thing, all five feet of her.  

Jon smirked. “Ms. Mormont, how are you?” he asked, pretending friendliness.

“Take your seat,” she said, ignoring his question and pointing to the only empty spot in the room.

Mr. Halfhand’s wish for a great school year might come true after all. Jon took his chair next to his new lab partner, Sansa Stark. Most rooms, they sat at individual desks, uncomfortable wooden things that creaked every time he moved. The science classes though, they sat two to a table. Jon felt like a lucky duck.

He stretched out, slouching back in his seat. Sansa Stark was stiff and rigid, facing forward and listening intently to every word their teacher spoke. If she noticed his existence, Jon couldn’t tell. He wondered if Grenn had it right, maybe she was a soc after all. Once, she glanced his way, studying him, but that was it. Still, he noticed her eyeball his jacket, probably wondering if he was in a gang. The bell rang and she stood, quickly exiting the room. They never even spoke to each other.

****

Sansa raced from the class as soon as the bell rang. She needed to go find Jeyne to tell her the news. Her heart was still thumping away.

“I have to tell you something quick.”

“What is it?”

She motioned to her friend to come closer so she could whisper in her ear, “I met my new partner in chemistry and he’s a greaser.” Sansa said the last word slowly, putting extra emphasis on it.

Jeyne drew back to mouth the word, “no” before covering her mouth.  “What does he look like and what is his name?”

Sansa pictured him, the dark, scruffy hair and the perfect red bow-shaped lips. She’d loved the hint of beard too, as if he hadn’t bothered to shave in a few days. All the boys she knew were clean-shaven. He was very different than the usual crowd her brother hung around with. “He’s almost as dreamy as Ricky and his name is Snow.” She’d never bothered to learn his full name, come to think of it.

“He’s named after the stuff that falls down in the winter?” Jeyne asked.

“I don’t know.” She’d displayed very poor manners now that she thought of it. Her mother raised her better, even if he was a greaser. “I’ll find out.”

“We going to Hot Pies after school?”

The local carhop, Sansa hoped so. Everyone who mattered would be there since it was the first day of school. “I’ll beg my brother. He’ll want to bring Theon along.”

“I don’t mind,” said Jeyne, her cheeks flushing some.

They said their goodbyes and she left for her next class, Civics and Government. Sansa didn’t much care for it, her favorite was Home Economics which was right afterwards. She hated math though, she hated that most of all.

Sansa entered her next class to be greeted by a new teacher, Mr. Lannister, who only motioned to an announcement on the blackboard. Seating was alphabetical by last name which meant she would be in the back of the classroom. She stepped carefully on the wooden floor, navigating between the rows and stopped, dumbfounded. It was him. Her heart did that peculiar thumping again. She sat at the narrow wooden desk immediately to his right and faced forward. Sansa had no idea what to say. Silence was better than rudeness she told herself, that seemed like a lesson that would be in one of her books on manners.

She saw him lean forward, arms resting on his knees to face her. “I got as much right to be here as you do,” he said angrily. His lips were curled up but not in a smile.

“Of course you do,” she said, not quite sure how to respond. “It’s public school.” He merely stared at her. Sansa wasn’t sure what she’d done wrong. “I’m Sansa Stark. It’s nice to meet you…” She let the sentence trail off, hoping he would give his name.

He didn’t. “You have no idea who I am, do you? My senior year and you’ve never noticed me.” He was staring at her again but his face was expressionless, she couldn’t tell what he was thinking at all. She also didn’t know why he was in her class, it was for juniors. “I’m Jon Snow.”

The bell rang then and their conversation, as brief as it was, ended. Sansa kept stealing glances at him during their class. Jon Snow seemed bored, either peering out the window or staring sightlessly ahead.

Finally, the class ended and he shot to his feet. “Catch you later, Sansa Stark.” Then he left, not giving her a chance to respond. She did not see him for the rest of the day.

As soon as school ended, she walked with Jeyne to her brother’s car where he and Theon stood waiting for them. “Are we going to Hot Pies?” Robb asked. “I’m getting a milkshake.”

The four of them climbed in and Theon turned on the radio.

_It’s the Red Viper here at WWFL radio. School may be out but the day ain’t done. Here’s the Coasters reminding us how to make sure we can still rock and roll…._

_Take out the papers and the trash_

_Or you don’t get no spendin’ cash_

Sansa could scarcely pay any attention to the conversation between her brother and Theon, it was mostly about the new football season. She didn’t care about the sport, except for the games which were a great deal of fun. Instead, her thoughts kept drifting to the greaser she’d met earlier in the day, Jon Snow. She’d angered him somehow and she didn’t know why. Sansa had only been trying to be polite.

“Can I have a quarter?” she asked her brother.

Theon was faster, handing over a quarter. “Play _Get a Job_ for me. Maybe your lame brother will take a hint,” he said, cackling.

“Get bent!” Robb made to punch him before laughing instead. “You don’t have one either.”

She left them behind to seek out the jukebox in the back of Hot Pies. There, she turned the knob, trying to decide on a song when a voice sounded beside her.

“Hello again, Sansa Stark.”

Sansa bit back a smile even as a shiver went through her. She told herself to be cool before facing him.

*****

Jon stood at the back of Hot Pies parking lot with Pyp and Grenn. They stood apart from everyone else, the white wolves on their leather jackets made sure that would happen. Slowly, the rest of the gang appeared; Satin, Edd, Tormund, and a couple others making their way over. However, it was a familiar Bel Air that held his interest. Sansa Stark was in that parked car but that didn’t make any difference. If Jon were to go over and speak with her, he’d end up in a fight with her brother and his friends. He’d be the one in trouble if someone were to ring up the cops too. It didn’t matter, he told himself, she probably didn’t want to talk to him anyways.

“Where’s Waymar?” he asked, finally noticing their gang’s leader wasn’t there.

“He’s leaving us,” said Tormund.

“Leaving where?” Jon guessed prison although he’d thought Waymar had given up stealing cars.

“He got his girl knocked up. They’re getting married next month.”

He stared at Tormund, bug-eyed. “Randa has a kid coming?” Jon thought about his own father; they hadn’t spoken in over a year. “That’s swell. I’m happy for them both.”  That meant Waymar was going to need a real job, probably working at the local timber mill or something.

“We’re gonna need a new leader,” Tormund said carefully.

Jon eyeballed him. “You making a run for the job?”

“I might.”

He didn’t answer. Sansa Stark stepped out of her brother’s car, heading inside Hot Pies. Jon followed her with his eyes but she didn’t seem to notice him. He promptly forgot all about The Wolves needing a new leader. “I’ll be right back.” Jon followed Sansa to the jukebox where she seemed to be deciding on her three songs.

He crept up beside her before saying, “Hello again, Sansa Stark.”

Her hand jerked away from the jukebox. “Hello, Jon,” she said politely. “Did you enjoy your first day?”

No, he hadn’t. School was a drag. “It’s over now.”

Sansa wrinkled her nose, frowning. “Have I offended you in some way? If so, I’d appreciate it if you would tell me so I can apologize.”

Jon gaped at her. She was genuine. “You were ignoring me at school today.” That wasn’t exactly true, he thought she was trying to be friendly during their second class. Still, he hated being ignored.

“I’m sorry for doing that.”

He wondered if she was for real. He was tempted to ask. “Thanks.”

She swallowed nervously and looked at his leather jacket again. “Are you here with some of your friends?” She said that last word cautiously, as if not sure how it would be received.

“My gang you mean. Yeah, most of them anyhow.”

“Are you in a real motorcycle gang?”

Jon didn’t know what to make of her question. “I suppose. We’re going to need a new leader soon though.” He didn’t know why he told her that last part either.

“I’m trying to decide on a song. Would you like to help me pick one?” she asked, changing the subject. Sansa Stark was being friendly with him, Jon couldn’t believe his ears.

“You like lollipops?” She nodded. “Pick that one.”

She did. “I’ll pick one by Ricky too.”

Jon held back a laugh, of course she liked Ricky Nelson. Lots of the girls did. Him or Elvis. “I prefer lollipops more. Catch you later, Sansa Stark.”

He started to return to his friends but she called out his name.

“Yeah?”

“You should be the new leader.”

“Maybe I should.”

As Jon returned to his pals, he thought more about her suggestion. Maybe he did want to take over as the leader of The Wolves. Maybe he wanted Sansa Stark too.

The song started playing over the carhop’s speakers. _Lollipop lollipop..._

****

Sansa stared after Jon Snow. He popped the collar of his motorcycle jacket before leaving the restaurant without so much as glancing back at her even once. He was a greaser and not at all the sort of boy she usually hung around with. Still, she found herself looking forward to school the next morning. She selected Theon’s song for him and returned back to her brother’s car.

“What took you so long?” he asked.

“I couldn't decide,” she lied. Sansa knew she needed to keep Jon Snow a secret from him. Robb would run and tell their parents and they’d forbid her from even talking to him.

She sat in the back seat next to Jeyne and thought to share what just happened but the song kept playing over the speakers.

_If you had a choice he’d be your pick_

_But Lollipop is mine_

As Sansa listened to the words, she realized Jon Snow had not been talking about the sort of candy you’d find in a candy store. She decided not to tell Jeyne about him after all.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah. I gave Theon Greyjoy a flat top. Also, Sweet n' Low first appeared in the spring of 1958.
> 
> Also, for anyone wondering, I'm doing a round of updates to my mult-chapter fics after this.


	2. Chapter 2

August 28th

His hand grazed hers for the third time and Sansa could not decide if it was deliberate. In the darkened classroom, with Jon so close, it very well could be. He slouched lazily in his chair as he always did, amused by the safety film playing on the white projector screen.

 _They duck and cover, duck and cover_   
_They hide their heads and tails and four little feet_ _  
_ They duck and cover!

Every time the refrain played, Jon would cover his mouth to suppress a cackling laugh. Sansa thought she was the only one that could hear it or at least no other students looked their way. Deciding the constant tic of the film projector was loud enough to mask anything she might say, Sansa leaned over towards him. “What’s so funny?” she whispered into his ear.

Jon’s neck snapped towards her. He drew himself up and leaned in so their shoulders touched. “You really think making like Bert the Turtle will save us if the Reds come?” Sansa didn’t respond.

The safety film ended a few minutes later when the end of the strip went flying. She shielded her eyes when the lights were flipped back on and then switched to covering her ears when the clanging alarm bell started.

“Duck and Cover! Duck and Cover!” Ms. Mormont yelled. All the students pushed their chairs back to under the desks. Sansa pulled her yellow skirt around her legs and tucked her head in. “Stay under your desks until told otherwise.”

A wave of murmurs spread through the room. Sansa glanced over at Jon. He was dressed in a black t-shirt this time with his usual boots and jacket. The only change in attire she’d yet to see in him was the shirt. A part of her wondered if he slept in his leather jacket too but couldn’t bring herself to ask.

“You really think a slab of Formica will save us from a-bombs?” Jon tapped the underside of their desk as if to prove his point.

“I never thought about it,” she admitted. “What else could we do?”

“Dunno.” He shrugged his shoulders, seemingly bored.

The clanging started and Ms. Mormont summoned them back to their seats. Class ended shortly afterward and Jon left. He’d yet to offer to escort her to their next class even though they sat across from each other. She wasn’t surprised, greasers probably weren’t overly concerned with manners. Instead, she wandered in alone, sat at her desk, and pulled out her notebook and pencil. Jon walked in as the bell rang but dropped a note on her desk before sitting.

Sansa opened it before glancing over at him. Jon claimed they’d been going to the same school all along but she’d never noticed him before. Now, he was everywhere. She saw him in the mornings standing next to his motorcycle with his gang, and, more than once, he’d appear next to her in the hallway on the way to one class or another. Sansa didn’t know if it was deliberate but she was quickly developing the habit of scanning the jumble of classmates to look for him.

 _Meet me alone at lunch today_ . Sansa brushed his messy scrawl several times during class, trying to decide the best response. The idea of a private conversation thrilled her. _The back of the library._ Sansa waited until class ended and the room emptied before dropping the note on his desk.

*****

The library was located on the first floor of the main school building. The room was open, with metal bookshelves lining the walls, except for the very back where a few more tall shelves stood. It was a good spot, no one bothered to visit the library during lunch, especially him.

The room was quiet other than the librarian clacking away on her typewriter. She narrowed her eyes suspiciously at him as he sauntered past making Jon wonder if the old woman thought he was about to steal away her precious copy of the 1956 Encyclopedia Britannica. Jon gave a two-fingered salute and smirked at her. He purposefully slapped the top of the card catalog to break the room’s silence for good measure too.

Sansa stood between one of the bookshelves and far wall, staring down at a book in her hand. She was dressed in one of those yellow circle skirts all the girls loved and a light blue blouse today. He’d nearly flipped in Chemistry when she’d whispered to him.

“This is one of my favorite books. I think I’ll borrow it again today.” She pointed at the library checkout card, he could see her name written in black ink three times.

“I’m not much for reading.”

“What do you enjoy?”

Her. “Motorcycles. Cars. My gang, I guess.” Jon reminded himself to be cool like he always did when she was around. “Are you going steady with anyone?”

Sansa didn’t answer him, putting her book back on the shelf. Jon wondered if she’d already forgotten her plan to check it out. “I’m not going steady. I haven’t been on a date since before summer started. Are you?”

“No, I never wanted to before.” Her eyes met him for the first time when he said that. It was her lips he noticed though, pink like the color of bubble gum. “I’d like to take you out this weekend.”

Her face fell. “I-”

“I get it,” he said, stopping her before she could reject him.

“No, Jon, you’ve got it wrong.” Sansa lightly touched his arm but Jon couldn’t feel a thing through the leather. He couldn’t take it off either, not in school where anyone could see. “I would like to only my parents…”

She didn’t finish but Jon got her meaning. He’d been stupid to hope differently. “They wouldn’t want me anywhere near you, would they?”

Sansa stayed quiet but her expression told him enough. “Could you meet me somewhere secret?”

“Tell me where.”

“The picnic tables in the town park. Can you be there Saturday morning at ten?” Her voice was trembling. She was scared like him.

“Ten at the picnic tables,” he repeated. Jon moved closer. Her hand still rested on his arm so he took it in one of his. “I won’t say a word to anyone,” he promised.

Neither of them spoke and he wondered if she’d let him kiss her but Jon didn’t bother asking. Sansa was the sort to insist they go steady first.

“Jon.”

Sansa released his hand and stepped away uncomfortably.

“Hey, Pyp.”

“You turning into a nerd?”

“I should join my friends. I’m guessing they will want to go to Hot Pies again today too.” Sansa looked right at him when she spoke the last part.

“You should check out their jukebox,” he said. “Catch you later, Sansa.”

She smiled politely at Pyp and then left the two of them alone. She’d forgotten all about her book too, he didn’t even know which one it was.

“You’re cruisin’ for a bruisin’, man. She ain’t one of us,” warned Pyp.

“Don’t know what you mean.”

“You’re one of my oldest pals, Jon. I don’t want you getting hurt.” He pulled a black comb from his pocket to smooth his duck back in place. “The race to take over _The Wolves_ is next week. You going for it?”

Jon hadn’t decided yet. He’d probably win. “Dunno, might.”

“How’d it look if you were going around with a soc?”

“She’s not like that,” he protested. “She’s not like that at all.”

“If you say so. You’re smarter than I ever was.”

“Do me a favor, will you? Don’t tell anyone you saw us together.”

“I won’t.”

Jon hadn’t given it any thought. He’d been worried about her parents, not his pals. He didn’t know how they’d feel about him taking up with Sansa Stark. “You think I should race for it?”

“Yeah and I’m not the only one hoping for it.”

“Maybe I will.” It’d make introducing Sansa as his girl a whole lot easier too.

*****

_Let's go to the hop, (oh baby)_

_Let's go to the hop_

_Come on,…_

_That was Danny and the Coasters telling us where we can rock it and roll it. I’m the Red Viper coming to you live from WWFL AM and telling you to keep your dancing shoes on for Chuck Berry and Johnny B Goode._

Sansa stopped listening to Robb and Theon arguing about their upcoming game to peer out the window. Jon had just ridden up in his gray motorcycle and parked next to the rest of his gang. She didn’t know any of their names but she’d come to recognize several.

“Do one of you have a quarter? I want to choose some music from the jukebox again.”

“Hold on.” Theon pressed a quarter into her palm. “Make sure you play your brother’s favorite.”

“Broken record over here thinks he’s funny.”

Sansa ignored them both and opened the car door.

“Can I come with you?” asked Jeyne.

She didn’t want her friend to come with at all but Sansa also could not think up a polite excuse either. “Help me pick out a song,” she said lightly.

They walked into Hot Pies together. Sansa glanced Jon’s way and he was staring right back at her. Her stomach fluttered. She’d yet to mention him to her friend since the first day of school.

“What shall we pick?” Jeyne turned the knob. “Ricky is in here.”

Sansa tried to picture Ricky Nelson in her mind but all she saw was Jon earlier in the library when he’d taken her hand. She could still feel the tingle from his touch. “I want Lollipop.”

“Sansa.”

She trembled at his voice. “Jon.” Sansa bit her lip, trying to stop a silly grin from appearing. They weren’t alone this time. “This is my friend Jeyne.”

He blinked, it was plain he hadn’t noticed her. “Hi.” Jon didn’t bother offering his hand either.

Jeyne’s lips twisted with amusement. “Jon Snow from Chemistry, right?”

“Yeah. Will I be seeing you in class, Sansa?”

“I’ll be there,” she said carefully. Sansa knew he was asking about Saturday and she hoped he understood her answer.

She stared as he departed, probably to return to his motorcycle. Jon glanced back before he opened the door and she thought he smiled at her, a sad and wistful sort of smile.

“Well, he’s not one for manners, is he?”

“Are you able to come over for dinner tonight?” she asked, not wanting to talk about Jon Snow. He was her secret, she wasn’t ready to share him with anyone yet, not even Jeyne.

“I’ll ring up my mom at your house.”

Jeyne didn’t mention Jon back in her brother’s car or after. Sansa hoped she successfully hid her feelings towards him.

“Son, make your mother and I a martini, will you?” Ned Stark sat at the head of the table, a newspaper in hand as it always was.

“Yes, sir.”

Sansa and Jeyne busied themselves helping her mother placing dishes on the table. It was her responsibility to help clean afterward too. The job was easier than it used to be before their new dishwasher.

“What’s happening in the world?” she asked her father.

“The war in China is getting worse,” he said, shaking his head. “More details on this new space agency. It’s past time we decided to catch up to the Soviets.”

“I’d like to go into space,” said Arya.

“You can’t go into space,” said Rickon. “Girls aren’t allowed to go into space.”

Sansa braced herself for one of her sister’s tirades. She loved Arya but there were days she didn’t understand how they were sisters at all. Once, when she was a little girl, Sansa had asked her mom if Arya was adopted. Her mother had been horrified and forbid Sansa from asking the question ever again. She also didn’t much care for anything in outer space; Sansa had plenty of worries right on Earth.

“Girls could go into space if they wanted, Rickon. Girls don’t have to marry if-”

“Both of you, that is enough,” her father ordered. “No one is going into space on a Thursday night,” he finished, more softly this time.

The dining room’s silence only lasted a few seconds before her mother spoke,“Ned, we had been speaking of the Tarly family.”

Her father folded his paper up and laid it on the table. “We’re invited to join them for dinner next weekend at the country club. I told Randall I’d have you ring up his wife to make sure we were available.”

“Dickon Tarly is on the football team with me,” said Robb.

Catelyn Stark smiled at her. It was the same smile her mother wore when first mentioning Harry to her. “Isn’t he the same graduating year as you, Sansa?”

“Yes.”

Jeyne squeezed her hand under the table. Sansa glanced over at her friend. Her secret wasn’t a secret.

,*****

Jon strolled out of shop class, intent on finding his way to the cafeteria. It was only fish sticks and potatoes for lunch but he was hungry.

“You.” Sansa’s friend Jeyne stood in front of him, finger pointed right at his chest. He half expected her to try and stab him with it. “Under the bleachers.”

She wore her hair the same as Sansa did but it was brown, not Sansa’s beautiful red. Her dress could have come from Sansa’s closet though. “I don’t want to.” Jeyne’s frosted expression told him it didn’t matter. “Lead the way.” Jon popped his jacket’s collar and followed her. His boot taps on the worn tile floor was the only sound as the hallways were already cleared out.

“I don’t know what your plan is but Sansa isn’t easy or fast like any of the girls you normally run with.” Jeyne stood across from him, hands on her hips as if prepared for a rumble. Maybe she was.

“I’m not running with any other girls.” Jon pulled his hair back from his eyes and told himself to be cool. He changed his pose to the swagger usually saved for teachers. “You think I don’t know all that?”

“I don’t want her hurt.”

“I don’t either,” he said flatly.

“You better not. I asked around about you. I know you spent time at a boy’s home.” Jeyne spoke those last couple words in a hissed whisper as if a normal volume would infect her with his scandal.

“A month last year.” Jon wasn’t going to explain himself to Jeyne Poole. Thorne deserved every hit; he’d happily do it all over again. “I’ll come clean with Sansa. If she doesn’t want me around after, then I won’t.”

Her arms dropped. “You like her?”

“You writing a book?” he asked defensively.

“I’m her closest friend. Her parents would never let her date a greaser boy in a motorcycle gang. You want my help or not?”

“I do,” Jon admitted.

“Well, that’s something. Are you wanting to go steady?”

Jon pictured the two of them in the hallways, holding each other’s hands for everyone to see. She’d be able to wear his jacket too if she wanted. “I asked her on a date.”

Jeyne Poole was a fierce one. She could wear a jacket of her own if she wanted though Jon figured she was more into lettermen. “Good.”

“Are you gonna help us?”

“If Sansa wants.” That was more than he could hope for.

He came home that evening after hanging out with a few pals over at Noye’s Garage to find his mother in their kitchen making dinner.

She was bent over their old Dixie stove and already dressed in her blue uniform. “The light went out again.”

“Sit down. I’ll take care of it.” The old gas stove did this at least once a week. “We having soup for dinner?” Jon grabbed the can opener from the drawer to take the lid off.

“Grilled cheese too.”

A few minutes later, they sat facing each other across the beat up metal table in their kitchen. Jon rocked back in forth in his chair as he always did, one of the legs didn’t quite reach the floor.

“How was school?”

“Real good.” It was dullsville, other than the classes with Sansa but he hadn’t told his mother about her. “I’m doing my homework.” He didn’t have any yet.

“How are Pyp and Grenn and all your other friends doing?”

She was mostly asking about Pyp, he’d spent a couple nights crashing at their house. “They’re all good. Pyp likes shop a whole bunch.”

“Well, he is always welcome here, whenever he needs a home. You tell him that.”

“I’ll tell him.”

They finished eating and his mother left for work. Jon turned on the water in their sink and waited for it to heat up. He wondered what Sansa was doing.

*****

Sansa knocked on Robb’s door and waited for his answering yell before letting herself in. He was sprawled on his bed, wearing blue jeans and a pair of saddle shoes, reading a Superman comic book. The dresser was open so he could play records. It seemed to Sansa that Robb’s entire record collection was scattered all over the floor.

“Can I borrow your car to go to the library? I left a book at school and have a reading assignment.”

“You want me to take you?”

“To the library?”

“A total drag. Can you be back in a couple hours? I’m meeting up with Theon and the rest of the team later. The keys are on top my dresser.”

“Thank you.”

Sansa grabbed the keys and almost ran from the room. She’d expected Robb to guess she was lying to him. She never lied to Robb or her parents. Jon was a secret but Sansa reasoned keeping a secret wasn’t the same as telling an outright fib.

She drove the fifteen minutes to the town park and pulled up beside his motorcycle. He was sitting on top the picnic table with his feet on the bench below. Jon jumped to the grass as soon as he saw her. Sansa had never thought a boy could be dreamy merely from jumping off a picnic table.

“I was afraid you wouldn’t come.”

“I was afraid you wouldn’t be here,” she said shyly. Sansa breathed deep, telling her heart to slow down. He wore a white t-shirt today and his hair was still delightfully messy. “Where is your jacket?”

“On my bike. I figured I was less obvious without it.” Jon walked towards his motorcycle to pick it up. She followed. Jon stroked along the seat’s edge pridefully. “You ever been on a bike before?”

“No.”

“Will you let me take you for a ride sometime?”

Sansa imagined them riding on a country road somewhere. She’d have her arms wrapped tightly around his waist. It would be as if they were the only two people in the world. “I would love that.”

She’d made him happy. Sansa realized he’d half-expected her to refuse. “She’s real safe. I worked an entire summer to save up money to get her.”

Sansa blinked with understanding. He’d worked a job even though they were still in school. No one she knew had a job. Her father didn’t allow Robb to have one, claiming he made enough to provide for his family. Jon’s did not. “I like the color. Everyone always makes them black.”

“You must not like my jacket much,” he teased.

Sansa bit her lip. “I like your jacket too.”

“Do you want to sit down?” She nodded, not trusting herself to talk. “Come on.” He brought his leather jacket along, draping it over an arm.

They sat close, legs angled towards each other and knees touching.

Sansa couldn’t rid herself of the shyness sitting in her stomach. “I can’t stay a very long time. My brother wants his car back soon.”

Jon frowned. “However long you can stay, it doesn’t matter.”

“Could I see your jacket?” She was being forward but Sansa couldn’t make herself stop. Her fingers had been itching to trace the lettering on the back all week.

“You can wear it if you want,” Jon said as if it were nothing at all. They both knew it wasn’t, his eyes told her he understood what it meant as well as she did.

Sansa pulled it over her shoulders. Some of his warmth still lingered. She could smell Jon too. It was different, not the Aqua Velva her father and Robb wore. “How do I look?” She held a sleeve out; the end completely covered her arm and hand. Only a hint of one finger could be seen.

“Real pretty.” Jon pulled back the sleeve. “Can I hold your hand?”

“Yes.” Sansa glanced down where their fingers intertwined. Her nails were manicured and painted a dark pink. Jon’s were chipped and torn up. There were traces of dark grease along his cuticles and under his fingernails too. “Will you tell me about your gang?”

“ _The Wolves_? All my best pals are in it.”

“What do you do?” Sansa had imagined all sorts of horrible things when he’ first told her about it, hoodlums vandalizing property or even worse.

He swallowed. “Do you have a mom and pop who take care of you?”

“Yes.”

“Well, for many of us, we don’t. For those who do have parents, it’s sometimes better if they don’t. So we take care of each other.”

She didn’t know how to respond. His answer was not what she’d imagined and made her wonder which category Jon fell into. “They would be lucky to have you leading them, I think.”

“The race is Tuesday after school.” He faced her, brows wrinkled up with hope. “Could you come see me?”

“I don’t have a car.” She couldn’t ask Robb, he’d tell her parents. Jeyne or Theon could maybe borrow one from their parents. Arya had her friend Gendry too. He had a car. She’d have to lie to her parents too. “I’ll try.”

“Good. You could be my good luck charm.”

Sansa bit her lip. She was going to burst into giggles if she wasn’t careful. “Earlier, you asked if I wanted to go on a date. Are you still asking?” She felt brave asking the question. Sansa had practiced it several times the night before.

“Yeah. I’d like to take you out sometime. Well, many times, but we can start with the first one.”

“That’s going steady.”

“You’re already wearing my jacket,” he pointed out. “Would your parents allow it?”

They wouldn’t. Her mother would set her up with Dickon Tarly if Sansa wasn’t careful. She knew the sort of boy her parents wanted for her. “I’d have to keep us a secret.”

“I get it,” he said, disappointed. “Your friend Jeyne could help us. Will you talk to her?”

“All right, I will.” She squeezed his hand tight, feeling the callused skin of his fingertips. “I don’t want us to be a secret. I’ll tell my parents someday but I can’t now.”

“A secret boyfriend? That sounds like a movie.” Jon smiled sadly.

“A romantic one.”

They sat close to one another for a good while, so close she could feel his thigh pressed against hers. Finally, it was time to go. Sansa didn’t want to leave him; she wanted to go on his promised motorcycle ride. Instead, she removed his jacket and handed it back. It wasn’t hers to take, no matter how she felt.

“You could wear it again sometime if you want.”

“On our date.”

“I want to kiss you but I won’t. I’ll wait until I can take you out on a proper date.”

Sansa’s heart wouldn’t stop its thumping. She was starting to worry she was having a heart attack. “Will I see you at school Monday?”

“Not if I see you first.”

She laughed. They said their goodbyes and she returned to Robb’s car. The rest of the weekend loomed in front of her, boring and endless. Jon pressed down on the pedal and started up his motorcycle. He wouldn’t leave until she did. Sansa waved and drove away. She waited until the rumble of the bike faded before turning on the radio.

_The Red Viper here reaching out to all the young ladies on a Saturday morning. Sometimes, he can’t help falling in love and as the song goes, knowing him is loving him. For all the lovers going on dates this weekend, we've got a twofer, Teddy Bears and Elvis._

_To know know know him_

_Is to love love love him_

_And I do_

_And I do_

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1\. Here's the Bert the Turtle video. Only the first minute is relevant to their conversation: https://youtu.be/IKqXu-5jw60  
> 2\. Ned made a reference to the new space agency. This chapter takes place in August, 1958. The previous month, the funds to create NASA were allocated by congress. The space race as we learned about is getting ready to start.  
> 3\. Soc= Snobby, preppy, popular, rich kid. frosted=angry, cruisin' for a bruisin' = it will not end well for you. boy's home=reform school for boys.  
> 4\. Jon and his mother still have a gas stove. At this point in time, over 80% of homes had switched to electric. They would be one of the few still with old style appliances. The brand of stove Jon mentioned was really popular at the time this takes place.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> General warning for very mild violence.

Sansa gripped her lucky rabbit’s foot and went in search of Arya. Jeyne was home sick so she couldn’t help. Theon may have taken her but he was with Robb somewhere and she guessed they wouldn’t be home until supper time. Arya’s room was empty so Sansa thought to try the backyard. 

There, she found only her two youngest brothers. Rickon wore his Davy Crockett coonskin cap as he so often did. They were playing with the green army men Bran had received for his birthday the previous year. “Have either of you seen Arya?”

“She took one of her hula hoops over to Gendry’s house a little while ago,” Bran said. 

She should have guessed. Sansa did not hula hoop at all, she felt overly forward moving her hips with them. Arya did not share that concern. She was probably wearing dungarees and one of Robb’s shirts too. Sansa practiced her lie one more time and went in search of her sister. 

Sure enough, Arya stood in the Water’s front yard with Gendry washing his old red Chrysler Newport. “I need a favor.”

“From me?” Arya pointed a finger at her chest, clearly disbelieving her.

“You and Gendry.” At his name, Gendry dropped his rubber hose so the water escaped down the driveway and into the street below. Sansa squared her shoulders. “I need you both to take me to a race I’d like to see.”

“What sort of race?”

“A motorcycle race. Please.”

“Is it that gang? I heard about it in school today.” Gendry leaned against his car, studying her. “Pyp, I think his name was.”

Sansa didn’t know anyone named Pyp. “I’m willing to do your homework,” she told Arya. It was her sister that needed convincing. Gendry would go along if Arya agreed. “I’ll do it for the rest of the semester.”

Arya snorted. “I wouldn't even let you touch my Algebra textbook.”

“Home Economics,” Sansa clarified. “All the sewing and the rest of it.” 

She hoped this worked. Jon had been dreamy the way he asked it of her. During science class that day, he’d even held her hand for a little after making sure no one saw. Sansa wanted to be his good luck charm more than she’d ever wanted anything else. 

“Do Mom and Dad know?” Sansa hung her head guiltily. “The entire year and you have a deal. Gendry, you mind if we take my sister?”

“For a bike race? It’ll be a blast.”

Arya called dibs on the front seat but Sansa didn’t care. She would be there for Jon and that was enough. Gendry took them to an empty field just off the old kings road outside of town. Sansa didn’t know who owned it but the grass was rather sparse with ruts from what she thought were larger cars and smaller bikes. The three of them appeared to be the last to arrive and Gendry’s car was off further from the people milling about.

“Sansa, do you know any of these people?” asked Arya. “I don’t see any letter jackets.”

She ignored the dig. There were twenty or so people scattered about with half of them wearing a jacket to match Jon’s. She recognized a few faces, one with hair so red it was closer to orange. Another with rather big ears and a third large enough to be on the football team if he wanted. There was a pair of girls too. One was maybe a year or two older, with dark blonde hair. She wore red polka dot shorts and a black top. Sansa pulled her pink cardigan closed and hugged herself. She felt rather square with her matching poodle skirt on. “A friend in one of my classes is racing. I wanted to be kind so I offered to come and be supportive.” It wasn’t a fib this time, not exactly anyways.

“Arya, come on and see those hot rods with me,” said Gendry. “I bet there are bent eights in those things.” 

They left her alone by the side of his red car. She didn’t see Jon anywhere. Sansa also could not detect a hint of friendliness. Gendry was already talking with a pair of boys and Arya seemed to mix right in. She lifted her chin and stepped forward. Sansa had read her Emily Post, she was prepared to be courteous even if no one else was. 

Jon was on the other side of the crowd, lost in what seemed to be a rather heated argument with an ugly boy, red-faced with a head of thin, stringy hair. Sansa disliked him at first glance. People noticed her but none offered introductions so Sansa maintained her polite smile and waited patiently. Another stranger spoke to Jon and indicated towards her. The argument ceased abruptly.

“You came,” he said calmly, as if he and the other boy were talking of the weather. 

“I promised to try.” Sansa pulled the rabbit foot from her skirt pocket. “You’ll have your very own cheerleader.”

“You promised but I didn’t expect…..”

“Why wouldn’t I?” She felt sad for him at that. “No one here likes me.”

“They will. All they got to do is know you some,” he promised. Jon popped his collar and took her hand, leading her away from the others. “Not Chett though. You stay away from him.”

Chett was the one he’d been yelling at she knew. She nodded her head. “Why were you arguing with him?” He’d worn a leather jacket with the same insignia as Jon. Sansa thought they were all friends, Jon had certainly implied it. 

“He’s got a stick up his ass.” Sansa recoiled at his choice of language but Jon didn’t seem to notice. “I’m gonna beat him in the race and I think we’ll have ourselves a dust-up afterward. Will you stay after? I’ll introduce you.”

“As long as I can.” Sansa searched for her sister but Arya wasn’t paying any mind so she offered her hand. Jon took it and the familiar tingle was back. 

He looked at their joined hands and frowned sharply. “I need to go.” Jon released her and stepped away. “It was real swell of you to come.”

The rabbit’s foot was still in her grasp. “Jon, wait. Wait. I have something for you,” she said, calling him back. Sansa held it out for him. She’d kissed it earlier like she’d read in some of her old story books but she didn’t want Jon to know that. He’d think her a silly ninny. “My good luck charm. I brought it for you to have.”

She dropped it into his palm but Jon merely stared down at it. “Thank you. I’ll give it back to you after,” he said tightly. 

“I don’t want it back. It’s yours now.”

Jon stiffened, making her think she’d said something wrong. “It was swell of you to come.” He hurried away, leaving Sansa standing alone.

Sansa repeated their conversation but didn’t know where she’d gone wrong. Her skin still tingled where he’d touched her but the patter of her heart was slowing down. She returned to Gendry’s car and her two traveling companions.

“Who were you talking too?” asked Arya.

“His name is Jon Snow,” she said, as if it were nothing at all. Sansa waited for another question but none came. She wanted it to stay that way. “How long does a race take?”

Gendry leaned against the hood of his car, near where her sister sat with her feet on the front bumper. “See that track over there. Three miles out and three miles back.”

“How do you know?”

He wrinkled up his face. “I asked.” 

It started. Sansa tried to hide her excitement. She did not want questions from Arya. That would lead to questions from her parents. Jon Snow was still her secret, not anyone else’s. She jumped and clapped her hands together. “He’s going to win. I know it. I know he is.” 

*****

Jon stroked the soft rabbit fur that lay in his palm. He couldn’t remember anyone getting him a gift before, except for his Ma but that wasn’t nearly the same thing. He gripped it tight before sticking it in the front pocket of his blue jeans. He needed to concentrate on the race, not his girl. 

There were three of them, Tormund, Chett, plus Jon himself. Edd already dropped out on account of the idea he might actually win. Tormund was only in to give him a run for it. “One of us has to make you work for it,” he’d said. He was good too, but Jon was better. Chett seemed to think he was owed a win, as if their gang had given him a royal shaft.His Pop was in prison and rumor had it some rich girl in another town had snubbed him. Jon thought he was lucky to even have a father. 

He fired up his engine and pulled up to the line. Val stood in front, black handkerchief still lowered. She raised it slowly, slower than he would’ve liked, and Jon revved his engine. The black piece of fabric slipped from her fist and Jon goosed it, kicking dirt and gravel behind him. He pushed away thoughts of Chett or his Ma or the boy’s home. Jon forgot about Sansa too, even though she’d been the one to encourage him. He screamed down the old dirt road, ignoring the two boys behind him. It was three miles to the old tree, with its red leaves and thick branches. Jon braked and threw down his leg for the sharp turn. There was a black jacket on his tail but he didn’t know who it was. Jon punched the engine once more and roared back to the line. 

Jon crossed it with the distant sound of cheers ringing in his ears. He ignored everyone to pull the rabbit’s foot from the pocket of his Levis. Sansa had been his good luck charm after all. He stood up and stroked the Triumph’s seat. “I knew we would do it. You did good.” His bike had some dirt on the spokes and exhaust. Jon would clean her later. 

He searched through everyone but Sansa was further away, caught up in conversation with another girl. She was a little thing with dark hair in a braid. If they were sisters, Jon couldn’t tell. He left his bike behind to make his way towards her. 

“Glad it was you and not me,” said Edd.

“Thanks.”

“Real glad it was you and not Chett,” said Pyp. The tips of his ears were red, from excitement and relief. He combed his duck back into place. 

“Thanks.” Jon received congratulations from Grenn and Jarl next. He managed a few more steps towards Sansa. She was arguing with the other girl now. 

“I almost beat your lazy ass,” said Tormund. He offered his hand and Jon shook it. “Watch out for him,” he whispered.

Jon received more congratulations until only Chett remained. His face was even redder than usual, the anger turning it an ugly cherry red. “I’ll make it real easy for you. Congratulate me and we’ll call it done between us.”

“You ain’t special. You’re no better than the rest of us,” he spit out in that nasally voice of his.

“I blew you off, fair and square.” Jon wanted to deck him. He wasn’t eighteen yet and there was no one around who’d ring up the cops. “Try again. Congratulate me.” He was aware of all the eyeballs on him too. Jon needed to end it.

Chett only snarled and kept both hands firmly planted at his side. Sansa yelled out his name and Jon looked away, letting her distract him. “You really think some frat boy’s kitten would be interested in the likes of you?” Chett started to swing a punch but he was always slow and stupid. He also picked the wrong target to pick on.

Jon was done. He slammed into Chett, knocking him into the ground and kicked him, taking care to aim his steel-toed boots at his ribs. Jon repeated the motion, mostly because he wanted too. “Get up, nosebleed,” he bit out.

Chett pulled himself up slowly, both hands cupping the left side of his chest. “I won’t congratulate you.”

Jon didn’t have anything else to say; Chett wasn’t leaving him with a choice. He drew his right hand into a fist and decked him. Jon’s knuckles were stinging. “Edd, Grenn, take his jacket. He’s dead now.”

The gang turned their back to Chett and it was done. Jon wondered why he didn’t feel happier; he should have. He looked about for Sansa but she’d disappeared on him. He hadn’t even noticed her leave. 

Sansa was not in school the next day either. Jon wandered the halls, even showing up late to classes, hoping to catch a glimpse of her but it was no use. He thought to ring her up but Jon didn’t have her digits, and even if he did, she probably wouldn’t be allowed to talk with him on the phone anyhow. After school, frustrated and confused, Jon went with Pyp and Grenn over to Noye’s garage. Mr. Noye gave them extra work when he had it, the simple jobs like checking fluids and putting air in tires. Jon had over sixty dollars saved up so far.

She wasn’t in school the day after but her brother was and so was Jeyne Poole. Jon told himself to stay away from both of them. Robb Stark wasn’t aware he even existed and Jeyne didn’t care for him at all. She’d made her opinion of him very clear. He made it to third period when he noticed her standing alone by her locker.

“Where’s Sansa?” he asked, as politely as he knew how.

Jeyne frowned. “Not here.”

That wasn’t the answer he wanted. Jon wondered, not for the first time if she saw his fight. It probably reminded her of what he was too, a bastard greaser. Sansa was different though. Her rabbit’s foot was still in the pocket of his Levis. “She coming back?” 

“Did you come clean with her?” she asked instead, ignoring his question. Jeyne was referring to his time at the boy’s school. Jon felt a twinge of hurt. It was only a month’s stay at the Bolton’s Home For Boys but he didn’t seem allowed to forget it. People cared more about his stay than the reason he was sent. 

He stuck one hand into his jeans pocket and leaned against a nearby locker. Jon reminded himself to be cool. “Not yet but I will. I’m not a liar.” 

Jeyne merely shrugged her shoulders. “See you later, alligator,” she said in a tone which made him think she didn’t much care one way or another.

The day dragged on until, finally, the last bell clanged and Jon raced into the parking lot. He knew where Robb Stark’s car would be. He always parked close to other boys wearing letter jackets. Theon Greyjoy was with him too. Jon didn’t have her digits and Jeyne had proven useless, so Jon had no other choice. 

He followed the two of them out of the school and into the streets of Winterfell. Jon stayed a ways back from the Bel Air. He guessed the car wasn’t more than two or three years old from its new shine and style. They crossed several streets, into a neighborhood Jon had never been in before. He noticed the size of the houses first. Then, he realized that most of them had a garage and even a driveway. 

Robb Stark slowed before turning into one of the driveways. Jon’s jaw dropped when he noticed the house. He stared and braked without realizing it. Sansa’s home was two stories with a mix of brick and wood with a large porch in front and a great big lawn. Jon had never even stepped into a house that big. 

“Hey, hood! You lost?” 

It was Theon Greyjoy. Robb Stark shoved him and said something right after but Jon couldn’t make it out. He revved his engine and slowly drove past. They both stared after him but neither moved. 

“That’s right. Keep on driving!!”

Jon wanted to stop but forced himself to keep going. He turned the corner and rode away. He wasn’t eighteen yet but there would be someone to ring up the cops this time around. Unlike Chett, there were plenty of people who cared about Theon Greyjoy. It didn’t matter, he knew were Sansa lived.

Jon waited until the street lights turned on before making his way back to Sansa. He deliberately parked between two of the lights, hoping to stay hidden in the shadows. He couldn’t go up and knock, he knew that much; there was something between his ears. He could wait until everyone was asleep and jimmy a lock. He’d done it before. Lights turned off and on and he saw figures moving about but none that he recognized as Sansa. 

He’d almost talked himself into a break-in when she appeared, pulling curtains apart in a second-floor window. Jon would bet every dollar he owned it was her bedroom. Her hair was down and her figure was backlit by the room’s light, like something out of a movie. The climb up an oak tree was simple enough. So was the slow slide down a branch and up the roof deck. The decision to tap on her window was more difficult when he caught the first glimpse of Sansa’s bedroom. Three of the walls had wallpaper with pretty pink flowers. The fourth was a sunshine yellow. There were posters and a full length mirror too. All Jon had were a few cracks in the plaster on his walls. Her dresser was covered with all sorts of stuff and she had what he thought was a jewelry box. There was a record player sitting on a chair and a giant doll shaped like a woman wearing a skirt. Jon didn’t know what that was. 

He told himself none of it mattered; she’d come to his race. Jon tapped on the window and grinned at her surprised shimmy. He tapped again. 

Sansa opened the window and stuck her head out to see the yard and street below. She wasn’t smiling back at him. “What are you doing here?” Jon wasn’t allowed to answer. Sansa grabbed a pink robe from a hook hanging off a door. She has a coat closet too, he realized. The robe was pretty, made with some sort of clingy material and lace. She cinched it tight before returning to the open window. “You shouldn’t be here. You have to go.”

Why did he need to go? Jon was certain no one saw him. “I wanted to see you. So, what’s buzzin?” He stuck his hand through the window but she didn’t accept it. “Where you been?” he asked, trying again.

“Jeyne was sick and I caught it from her. I’ll be back at school tomorrow. Please, Jon, you have to go. How would it look if I were caught with a boy in my room?” Her little speech was delivered somewhere between a whisper and a hiss. She didn’t stop waving her arms around for any of it either. 

“You won’t be; no one knows I’m here. Why’d you leave the race? I wanted to introduce you around. You’re my good luck charm, remember?” Chett had been the only one to challenge him over her but he’d fixed that. Jon figured he’d get a few questions over her being a soc but if they met her…

“I didn’t want to leave. I called your name but you were...occupied.” She’d said that last word distastefully, as if it was forced out of her mouth. Sansa realized he was about to fight then. “My sister and her friend insisted.”

Jon offered his hand again and she took it this time. “Could I come in?” He was sitting half on a tree branch and half on her roof. It was growing uncomfortable.

“You need to go, Jon. It’s not seemly for you to be here.”

A sharp knock sounded at her door. “Sansa, it’s getting late. You need anything before lights out?” It was a man’s voice but even muffled through the door, he knew it wasn’t Robb Stark. 

The breath left him and Jon willed himself to stay motionless. Her father wouldn’t care that he wasn’t eighteen yet. He’d been so careful to not be seen outside, he hadn’t thought about anyone inside the house.  

Sansa ripped her hand from his and stepped back. “I’m fine, Daddy,” she called out loudly with a bit of panic at the edge of her voice. Her head whipped back and forth between him and her bedroom door. “I’m tired so going to bed real soon.”

“Alright, pumpkin. We’ll see you in the morning.”

“Good night.” She hugged herself and seemed to slump where she stood. Jon didn’t know what to do so he kept quiet. Sansa finally moved to her record player and the quiet strain of Ricky Nelson’s  _ Poor Little Fool _ filled the room. Jon felt like a fool and he liked Ricky Nelson even less than before. “No one can hear us over the music.” She sat down on the other side of the window.

“You mad?”

She shook her head and he couldn’t find a trace of anger in her expression. “You still need to go. I’m not the sort of girl who allows boys in her room.”

“Nah. You’re my girl.” Her cheeks darkened to same shade of pink as the robe she wore. Sansa was beautiful with her hair down and she was his. Jon couldn’t bring himself to care if she didn’t want anyone to know, not then anyhow. “Catch you later, Sansa Stark.”

“Good night, Jon.”

He sat there, dangling between the tree and her roof, wondering if he should ask to kiss her. “Good night. I’m real glad you’re feeling better.” 

*****

Sansa read over the note she’d passed back and forth during Chemistry class. Jon really did have the most awful penmanship.She wondered if he ever wrote a word at all outside of school. She guessed not. 

_ I’m really sorry. Meet me at lunch? _

_ Back of the library again.  _

_ I missed you. Real glad you’re back. _

_ I missed you too. Mrs. Mormont is looking at us. _

_ She’s looking at me. I’m the J.D. _

Classes dragged on until finally the lunch bell rang. Sansa walked resolutely down the main hallway, passing the trophy cases and team pictures. She paused at one particular spot and smiled with pride. There was a large team picture from the previous year with her brother, Theon, Patrek Mallister, Donnel Locke, and others she recognized. Her brother was in the very front, holding a football. They’d made State last year and she knew the team hoped to do the same again. She hated lying to Robb but there was nothing else to be done. He would tell their parents and then she wouldn’t be able to see Jon anymore. Arya was altogether different. 

She continued down the wood floors, all scuffed up and dulled from years of students moving through the building’s hallways. The library was quiet and there was a peaceful feel to the room she enjoyed. Sansa breathed deep, taking in the scent of old books. She loved the school’s library. 

“Hi, Mrs. Dustin.” She smiled politely at the school librarian who was working away at her typewriter. “How are you?”

“I’m good, Sansa. So sweet of you to ask.” Ms. Dustin had been the school librarian as long as anyone could remember. Her husband was killed in the war and she’d never remarried. Some of her classmates found Mrs. Dustin rather mean but she’d only ever been friendly to Sansa. “We have a new Tippy Parrish just in. Give me a few minutes to glue in the library card and it will be ready for you.”

Sansa thanked Mrs. Dustin and promised to return shortly before heading straight to the back. The twin rows of shelves would hide them from anyone who may tell her brother. Or Theon. 

Jon wore his dark blue Levis like he always did but his jacket was zipped up so she couldn't see the white shirt underneath. A hand was stuffed into his pants pocket too. The night before, she’d been horrified to see him appear at her window like a ghostly figure against the darkness. After the initial fear, she’d felt hurt that he considered her the easy sort of girl who would let him in her room at night. Sansa knew the story of Ami Frey, like everyone did. Her parents claimed she was going to care for a sick aunt but everyone knew she was at a special school for girls with a particular condition. There were rumors as to who the father was but no one knew for sure. Sansa did not want that to be her fate. Then, she’d seen the fear when her father knocked on the bedroom door and he’d been sad-eyed when he’d asked if she was angry. Somehow, she found Jon even dreamier now. 

His face lit up when he saw her and he pulled something from his pocket. It was the rabbit’s foot she’d given him. “I won cause of you. I’m keeping it.”

“It was a gift.” She’d have been rude to ask for it back plus she felt thrilled he still carried it. Sansa wanted to tell him she’d kissed it first but held her tongue. “I’m sorry you had to fight your friend.”

“He wasn’t much of a friend . No one misses him and he didn’t leave me a choice.”

Sansa thought there was always a choice but she didn't want to tell him that.  “Well, I’m still sorry.” Friend or not, it was an unpleasant end. She’d wanted to congratulate Jon but Gendry and Arya had insisted on leaving when they noticed the argument. “For that and for not staying.”

“It don’t matter. Can you go out this weekend?”

“I can’t Saturday night. My parents made plans with another family and Sunday morning is church.”

“Saturday morning? Could you come to the park again?”

She nodded her head eagerly. “I can do that.” He’d wanted to ask her in person rather than a note. Sansa’s heart fluttered like it always did in his company. “Next weekend. I’m free next weekend.” She didn’t know how she would do it yet but she would. Jeyne could help, maybe. 

Jon spread his legs and drew his jacket collar up in the way he did sometimes. “I want to hold your hand before we go.” 

The tips of his fingers were still rough and his nails black from grease and oil. She wondered if he still worked even though it wasn’t summer. Sansa was afraid to ask though in case it embarrassed him. 

After, she checked out her new book and sought out Jeyne. She didn’t say a word about her meeting with Jon Snow. Soon, she promised herself. She would tell Jeyne everything very soon, but not yet. The next morning, she lied about the library to her brother again to borrow his car. Lately, it felt as if she was either going to the library or fibbing about going to the library. Sansa thought she was fibbing about a great many things. Arya would figure it out eventually but she’d worry about that when she had too. 

He was already waiting for her. Jon stood next to his bike and broke into a pleased smile when she drove up. Sansa parked and practically barreled out of the car to see him. It wasn’t seemly at all but she couldn’t stop herself. They’d hardly seen each other that week so she threw herself into his arms. Jon embraced her and she collapsed against his chest. He felt warm and firm against her cheek. She couldn’t recall ever behaving so boldly with a boy before. Sansa had only let Harry kiss her a few times. 

“I was afraid you wouldn’t come,” he said happily.

Sansa pulled away and they stared at the other, blue eyes meeting gray. She felt giddy at the idea of them sharing a great secret, something only for them. “I promised you.”

“I brought my jacket for you.” He pulled it over her shoulders and Sansa zipped it up. He wore a white shirt with the sleeves cuffed, putting the muscular outline of his arms on display. “Will you wear it when you meet my pals?”

They were his friends, not hers. Sansa had not detected hostility exactly but a strange sort of disinterest she didn’t understand. “Yes. Will we be able to go on your motorcycle soon?”

Pride fell over him as it always did. It made her wonder what she’d ever done to experience that sense of achievement. Nothing, she thought. “I washed her after the race until not even a speck of dust was left.”

“Why do you call it ‘she’?”

“I dunno. She’s my girl, always has been.” He’d called her the very same only a couple nights earlier. At least she had his jacket. “I don’t think we can go riding soon though.”

“Oh.”

“Nah.” Jon smiled devilishly and took her hand but his expression quickly turned solemn. “If we go out then I’ll probably wanna kiss you a whole lot after. So, maybe it’s best if we wait a little while.”

Sansa wasn’t sure if what he said was at all appropriate but she didn’t care. “Next weekend. You can kiss me then if you want.”

“Next weekend,” he said shyly. “You wanna sit down?”

She did. “I brought something for us. Hold on.” Sansa ran to Robb’s car to grab something from the passenger floor. “A transistor radio.”

“You have a transistor radio?”

“It’s not mine, it’s Robb’s. He doesn’t know I have it.” Sansa didn't understand his expression. Did he think she was a thief? “It was a birthday present for him. He keeps it in his car a lot.”

“He keeps it in his car?”

She was saying the wrong things again. They were sitting close and she hoped he would put an arm around her but he didn’t. Sansa still felt the familiar thrill when he took her hand though. “Will you tell me about your gang?” she asked, wanting to change the subject. It was only a radio. 

Sansa listened to him describe some of his pals. She heard great affection and caring like she had with Jeyne. It wasn’t what she’d pictured when Jon first confessed to being in a motorcycle gang. They were friends, she understood that very well. “Some people think you’re criminals, but you aren’t at all, are you?” Sansa had once thought so but she didn’t want to speak it aloud. 

Jon pulled his hand where it had been joined to hers and started pulling at his hair. She didn’t like that. “I have to tell you something.” He stood before stepping away. 

No, he didn’t, not when everything was perfect. “What is it?”

“People think right. I am a criminal.”

Sansa didn’t like any of this at all. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A few explanations:
> 
> 1\. The description of Sansa's house is from floor plans of a home built in 1955.  
> 2\. Sansa's bedroom is taken from a picture of a teen girls room in 1956.  
> 3\. Tippy Parrish was a book set that was very popular in the 1950s, marketed at teen girls. First love, best friends, all the sorts of stuff Sansa would enjoy.  
> 4\. A quick explanation on Jon's reaction to Sansa's transistor radio since there was no way to put this in the story without a bunch of ugly dialogue. Transistor radios were still relatively new and very expensive. Jon is surprised because she, a teenager, has one. Then when he learns it is kept in the car a lot of the time.... The idea of something so expensive being used so casually isn't something he gets. They would retail for $35-40 USD then. $350-400 USD now.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been awhile and all I can say is that I suck. Next update will be sooner.

“People think right. I am a criminal.”

Sansa did her best to understand; Jon was not at all like how she imagined a criminal to be. Of course, she’d never met one before him either. “Did you kill someone?” He hadn’t, she’d known almost as soon as she spoke.

“I’m no murderer. I got...I got stopped.”

Sansa stubbed the tip of her ballet slipper into the dirt. Jon wore black boots with a hard toe in them. Her gaze moved upward to his Levis, dark blue but with grease on the thighs. His belt buckle was black with shiny metal and the sleeves of his white t-shirt were cuffed almost to his shoulders. She did know what a criminal looked like. “How did you get stopped?”

“A couple of my pals pulled me off him.”

“I’m real glad your pals were there to help you.” It was the only response she could think of.

“You want to know what happened?”

Sansa didn’t want to know any of it. Before, he was the dreamy boy she wanted to kiss. If he told her his story, then he was the boy she could never take home to her parents. She could already picture her mother’s expression, disappointment and worse. “If you want to tell me.”

She made herself look at him. Jon’s arms were crossed and his lips flat. “I beat a man, got arrested, and spent a month in prison.” He spoke as if reading off her mother’s grocery list.

“May I ask why?”

“He didn’t give me a choice. I had too.” He’d said much the same only the day before. Sansa wasn't sure if she believed him this time either.

“Were you defending someone?” Her father told Robb fighting was only acceptable if you were defending someone; otherwise, you were just a bully.

“Not exactly.” Jon’s expression changed, shuttered so she couldn’t guess his thoughts.

“How badly was this man hurt?”

“Real bad.”

Shame filled her, and maybe disappointment too. Although Sansa could not say which of them was the target of her disappointment; maybe they both were. “Thank you for telling me.”

“Is that all you got to say?” he asked accusingly.

Sansa struggled for the correct response but she was well and truly blinkered. Emily Post never prepared her for this. The silence between them grew until she felt forced to speak. “I……”

“You’ve got nothing to say, don’t you?  Well, ain’t that a bite.” His lips were curled into a snarl but he was sad-eyed again, the same as he’d been at her window the other night. Sansa thought him dreamy then.

“You’re rude,” she snapped.

“You were supposed to be different,” Jon shot back. “You aren’t though. Took me awhile but I got with it.” Jon pointed at her as if he’d solved a mystery and then made a motion. He wanted to pop the collar of his jacket but she wore it.

Sansa wanted to remind him this wasn’t one of the stupid detective shows on television, he wasn't Jon Friday. “I’m not different. I never lied to you.”

“Yeah, I got that now. This has been a real bash but I’m going now.”

“You’re leaving? I want to talk to you.” His frown deepened, she’d said something wrong. “Jon, you hardly explained yourself at all.”

He wasn’t listening. “Catch you later, Sansa Stark.”

Jon left her standing at the picnic table’s edge. “Wait, please. Your jacket,” she called out but it didn’t make a difference. His bike trembled and roared to life and he rode off without so much as a backward glance.

Sansa removed the leather jacket and stroked one of the sleeves. Jon cared for it, there was hardly a lick of dirt on the thing. She left the park and went to the library for a little while, telling herself that made for one less fib she’d need to tell. Afterward, Sansa returned home with Jon’s jacket folded up as small as she could make it. She raced up the stairs and into her room to hide the jacket under her bed. She did not want to explain where it came from and there was no fib she could offer up that would convince anyone besides.

She thought to ring up Jeyne but she’d kept Jon a secret even from her best friend. Sansa could not bring herself to betray Jon’s confidence even if he’d been uncivil. Instead, she turned on the radio.

 

_Lollipop lollipop_

_Oh lolli lolli -_

 

She clicked off her radio, deciding silence was better and switched to working on an apron for one of Arya’s home economics assignments.

“Sansa.” Another knock at the door. “You in there?” her brother asked, louder this time.

“Come in.”

“What’s wrong? Are you feeling sick again?” Robb wore his gray sweater with a large W over one breast and a pair of slacks. Even outside of school, her brother was still on the football team. “I can make excuses for you if you aren’t up to going. It’s the Tarlys, you won’t be missing much. It’ll be dullsville.”

Sansa stood in front of her mirror, appraising her pink princess dress and matching pumps. It was her most grown-up dress and she loved it. No dress could hide the redness in her eyes though. She didn’t want to go to the country club for dinner. “Is Mom going to arrange a date with Dickon for me?” Her mother had already tried that with Harry.

“Yes, probably.” Robb stuck a hand in his pocket, obviously uncomfortable talking about his little sister’s romances. She’d been telling him falsehoods too. “If you want, I’ll keep him busy with football talk.”

Dickon Tarly was a swell sort of fellow but not particularly interesting. He liked football and wanted to work for his father someday. There was nothing mysterious or dreamy about him like another boy she refused to name. “Would you please?”

“Sansa, what’s wrong? If someone is bothering you, tell me so I can fix it.” Her brother’s lips were pulled into a soft, concerned frown. His forehead was all wrinkled up too.

She didn’t want him worrying though. That meant questions and Sansa hated lying to her brother. She smiled and ignored his pretend grimace as she applied another layer of lipstick. “You’re being a goof. Let’s go.”

Jon was not at school Monday so Sansa told herself he was sick, same as she’d been the week before. She’d been prepared to use his jacket as an excuse to speak with him. Sansa did not want to sound desperate for a boy; that was not the sort of girl she wanted to be.

He was not there Tuesday either, even though there was a quiz in second period. Sansa tried to convince herself he was still home sick but it was no use. Jon was truant because of her. As soon as the lunch bell sounded, she made her way to the girl’s bathroom. She smoothed her hair and put on more lipstick.

An image of the blond girl in red polka dots from Jon’s race came to her again. She wore a pleated blue skirt and buttercream yellow blouse. She told herself it didn’t matter, Jon liked her as she was and she did not want to be anything different than who she already was. He’d said she was his girl.

His friends were hanging out on the bleachers at the far end of the field. They’d been indifferent before but they were outright cold now. Sansa did not know their names; she did know her Emily Post. “Hello. I hoped one of you could help me.” Silence. She wanted to call them each rude. It was proper manners to respond when a girl asked for help, everyone knew that. “Jon is not at school and I’d like to speak with him.”

“He’s not here,” said one of the boys. It was the big one, Sansa had once thought he could play football with her brother.

Her toes curled up where they lay hidden in her slippers. She smiled her politest smile. “We had a horrible misunderstanding and I’d like to speak with him over it. Could one of you tell me how I might find him?” It was very close to the truth and she did her best to look guilty. Sansa thought they might like that. “I’m worried and I’d feel ever so much better if I could make sure he’s swell.” Even better; she hadn’t needed to fib either.

“You can find him at Noye’s Garage. We work there after school sometimes.”

“Thank you so much, Mr. -”

“Call me Pyp.”

“Thank you, Mr. Pyp.” They laughed but she ignored it. “You’re very kind. I’m Sansa Stark, by the way.”

More laughter. “We know who you are.”

“You may know by name but that isn’t the same as an introduction.” Her cheeks burned. She thought to give a polite goodbye but something kept her in place. They were being rude when she’d only been nice to them. “You all seem to have a bad opinion of me but the only one displaying poor manners are each of you. I am Jon’s girl so ask yourselves: do you think he would appreciate you talking to me this way?” She didn’t wait for an answer. Sansa turned and left, refusing to so much as glance back. Now, she only needed to figure out how to get to Noye’s Garage. She also needed to find out where it was.

The Yellow Pages told her where to find Jon. A lie to her mother meant Sansa could borrow the family’s De Soto Wagon.

*****

_It’s a twofer playing at the local drive-in for the next couple weeks. The Blob and Horror of Dracula. C’mon fellas, grab your girls and snuggle up close. Here’s Sheb Wooley with Purple People Eater. YEAHH!!!_

 

Jon winced at the Red Viper’s screech at the end. He didn’t much care for the song. “Someone turn the damn radio off.”

The music stopped so the only sounds were those to be found in a typical garage. Noye’s was an old building with an ugly metal roof and an even uglier sign advertising its services. Inside though, Jon thought the place was magic. He stroked the hood of a cherry red Pontiac Chieftain with one of the new Hydra-Matic transmission systems. Jon was only responsible for filling the fluids and air but it didn’t matter. He could picture himself driving one, with Sansa by his side and an arm over her shoulders. He wondered if she noticed he’d played hooky from school the past two days. Did she care? He shouldn’t have left her in the park like a candy ass the way he had. She’d probably never speak to him again.

“Jon, Mr. Noye wants to see you in the office,” said Pyp.

He glanced down at his hands. They were black but Mr. Noye generally didn’t appreciate being kept waiting. Jon went off in search of his boss, finding him sitting behind a desk with a pen in hand.

Donal Noye was a big man and strong. He’d lost an arm in the war and come home to Winterfell to open his garage. There were all sorts of stories told about him, that he’d lost his arm to a Japanese sword on Iwo Jima or that it was blown to bits while he fought off Nazis. Supposedly, he’d seen action in Africa and all over Europe too. Now, former GIs worked for him and so did Jon and some of his pals.

“Is something wrong?” Jon asked his boss.

“What year is on that calendar?” Noye pointed at a calendar on his wall. Marilyn Monroe occupied the September spot.

“1958.”

“1958,” he repeated. “That means it’s Tuesday. Son, why have you not been in school?”

Jon bristled at the use of “son.” He didn’t have a father, not a real one anyhow. “Working,” he answered mulishly.

“Not during school hours, you don’t. Jon, you’re a smart boy and I want you to finish school. We don’t need a repeat of the last year, now do we?”

“No, sir.” Jon felt chastened. Noye wasn’t his father but he didn’t like the disappointment in his voice either. “I’m going back tomorrow.”

“Well, I’m glad to hear it. Graduate and it’ll be time for us to have another talk.” He waved his hand, dismissing Jon. “Go on now.”

Jon returned to work and the sweet Pontiac waiting for him. He’d only been at it a couple minutes when Pyp elbowed him. “What is it?” he asked irritably.

Pyp nodded towards the office. “You’ve got yourself a visitor.”

Jon followed the direction his friend indicated and his jaw dropped. Sansa stood, all prim and proper, with her hands neatly cupped in front of her, talking with Mr. Noye. “Well, how about that,” he said, gobsmacked. “She found me.”

“I told her where you are.”

“Thank you.” Jon didn’t know what else to say.

“Yeah, well, make like a tree.” Pyp smacked his shoulder and left.

Jon raced over to the work sink to clean his hands up the best he could before making his way to Mr. Noye’s office where he opened the glass door so hastily the panes rattled. “Hello.” Was she angry with him or pleased? He couldn’t tell. She’d cared enough to find him though, that meant something.

“Jon, this young lady has asked to speak with you.”

“Could I take a short break?”

“No, you may not.” Jon wanted to protest. She might not stay until he quit working in a couple more hours. “You’re done for the day. See to your visitor. It’s nice meeting you, Ms. Stark.” Noye tipped his old hat and left them alone.

She was lovely but she was not wearing a smile. Jon spread his legs wider. He tried to tell himself to be cool but it didn’t work this time; his guts were way to tied up in knots. He didn’t have his jacket with him either so he couldn’t even use that. “I missed you. I missed you a whole lot,” he said, sounding like a square.

“Were you skipping school because of me?”

Like a chicken. Topping off oil was easier than explaining to your girl what you did. “I knew you were mad at me.”

She frowned. “I was hurt, not angry.”

“Sorry.” She frowned deeper. “I am. I’m glad you’re here too.”

“I thought we could have a conversation.”

“I don’t have a car.” Jon didn’t live very far away but he didn’t want to take her to his house. She didn’t need to see it.

“I do, along with a couple bottles of Coke.” Sansa turned and marched out of Mr. Noye’s office, obviously assuming he would follow.

Jon did. She led him to a wagon and they climbed in. Jon expected her to take them to the park again but she didn’t even start it up. They were on the far side of the parking lot, but back from the street. It didn’t matter, they were alone. “I’m sorry about what I did,” he said again. He figured another apology could only help him.

Sansa handed over a Sears bag. “Your leather jacket is inside.”

“You can keep it if you want.” Jon wondered what she’d do. He wanted her to keep it.

“I don’t feel much like wearing it right now,” she said honestly. “You hurt me but I think, somehow, I hurt you too. I don’t understand what I did though. So, I’m listening.” Sansa did not sound hurt but she gripped the steering wheel tightly and her head hung low.

Jon got it. He pressed his hand into the brown leather upholstery nervously. “No one knows but my ma and some of my pals. Mr. Noye, he knows too but he doesn’t rub my face in it.”

“I won’t tell anyone either,” she promised.

“It happened last summer. A man my mother worked for stiffed her out of money.”

“What was his name?”

“Alliser Thorne.” She didn’t recognize it; Jon didn’t know if she would have. “He called her names and I couldn’t not do something.”

“What sort of names?”

“Names not fit to say.” Sansa nodded with understanding. “I got angry because we needed the money so I confronted him.”

“He didn’t pay you?”

“He called me a bastard and a whore’s son so I started pounding into him.” He’d taken Grenn and Edd with him for back up. Jon still didn’t remember exactly what happened; only them pulling him off and saying they needed to go. The cops came to arrest him the next day.

She released the wheel and tentatively reached for him. Jon accepted. They weren’t holding hands exactly but she was offering up something. He’d take it. “Those are cruel names, whether it is true or not.”

“I spent a month at a boy’s school.” Then his father showed up and took him home. Jon wondered if it took him that long or if he didn’t care.

“You don’t have a father do you?”

“None that matters. My mother was a little older than you when I was born. She quit school afterward and now she’s a cleaning woman.” Jon felt raw, like he’d been scrubbed with steel wool and lye soap.

“Well, that’s...you were defending your mother’s honor. That’s a very noble thing, Jon.” She blinked rapidly as tears started to well up in her eyes. Jon hoped she didn’t cry. He didn’t have much experience with crying girls.

“I guess so.” He didn’t feel particularly noble. Mostly, he’d felt rage and hate. “I was only a minor when it happened so it won’t be on a permanent record or anything. I got told that if it happens again when I turn eighteen, I’ll go to prison for a lot longer.” His father couldn’t help him then too.

“When do you turn eighteen?”

“Thursday,” he said simply.

“Thursday,” Sansa said frantically. “What are you going to do?”

“Go to school.” He shrugged his shoulders, it was only a birthday. “You still mad at me?”

“I was never mad. I’ll keep your secret, I’ll never speak a word of it.”

“Your friend Jeyne asked me. She thinks I’m a hoodlum.” Jon thought her brother and his friend Theon did too.

“Can I tell her she was misunderstood?”

“Yeah, you can say that.” He remembered the uncomfortable shock he’d felt the first time he saw where she lived and decided he’d shared enough for one day. Honesty was all well and good but he could only do so much of it at once.

“You were brave to share this with someone, especially not knowing what they would do.”

He was a chicken. “Yeah, maybe.” Jon didn’t want to talk about it anymore. He wondered if he should ask about a date or not. They weren’t going steady yet, no matter how he felt about her. “I’ll be back at school tomorrow.”

“Good. I need to go home now. My mother is expecting me to help with dinner and I haven’t started my homework either.”

Jon almost offered his jacket again but changed his mind. He’d rather not ask than have her refuse. “I’ll catch you later, Sansa.”

Shortly after, he started up his bike to go home. It was a real crazy day. Mr. Noye had spoken to him, then Pyp helped out, and Sansa came for a visit. Jon wondered if his father would decide to announce his existence to the world. When pigs fly, he thought.

Jon woke two mornings later to his eighteenth birthday. Briefly, he wondered if the day meant dressing up but, in the end, he put on his usual Levis and a black t-shirt while Buddy Holly crooned in the background. He ate breakfast and drove his Triumph to school with Grenn and Pyp  Sansa was already waiting for him in homeroom like he figured she would be. She was always there first with her notebook and pencils ready to go.

“I made you something,” she said shyly.

He wondered what it could be. “Your dress?” It was a sleeveless red dress with a black belt. The ponytail holder was the same shade too. Jon liked red.

She giggled. “The dress came from Montgomery Wards.” Sansa pulled a piece of paper from her school bag. “For your birthday.”

It was a piece of white construction paper, folded in half. Jon opened it and swallowed. “You made me a birthday card.”

She indicated the inside image. “It’s supposed to be your motorcycle, or it is as near as I could remember. I’m not a great artist.”

She’d drawn him a picture of a wolf driving a motorcycle. “Yes, you are. You could be as famous as Jackson Pollock if you wanted.” He was the only famous artist Jon knew. He was still bugging over the idea that she’d made him something. “Can I keep it?”

“It’s yours. I want you too.”

“Thank you.” She was the first person to mention his birthday. His mother was still sleeping when Jon left and his pals probably didn’t remember. Sansa also wasn’t mad over him being a jerk at the park and they’d held hands again yesterday too. Jon wondered if he could ask about a date that weekend. He didn’t ask.

A film projector was brought in which brought a round of whoops and hollers, immediately followed by Ms. Mormont yelling at the class to hush up. The room darkened and then a film strip on the scientific method started. Jon didn’t care; he wasn’t going to be a scientist.

“You afraid of the dark?” he whispered. Sansa’s head snapped so quick her ponytail whipped against his cheek.

“I might be.” The room was dim enough that he couldn’t see her expression but she did lean towards him.

Jon took it as permission. He scooted his chair closer, taking care the metal ends didn’t drag on the tile floor. No one in the class would be able to see them with the film strip playing. “I want to hold your hand.”

Sansa stayed quiet but her hand lightly grazed his leg. Jon grasped it in his own so their fingers laced together. He smiled, realizing they could hold hands for the entire class. It was a swell birthday.

Jon let her go when the lights turned back on and the strip’s end started hitting the projector. Sansa was biting her lip and she’d made him a birthday card. He wasn’t a chicken. “How about our date Saturday night?”

“I was starting to think you weren’t going to ask.”

*****

“Well, how do I look?” Sansa hoped she looked beautiful. She’d washed and set her hair the night before with Jeyne’s help. They’d worked together to style it like a picture of Sandra Dee in one of their magazines. Her hair was longer but the curls in front were perfect.

“If he isn’t gone for you yet, he will be before the night is over,” said Jeyne. “The dress is perfect.”

Jon liked her red dress so Sansa chose a white one with tiny red rosebuds all over and red pumps. “I hope so.”

“You sure about this?”

“Real sure.” Sansa told her parents she was having a sleepover with Jeyne at her house. The Pooles went out on Saturday nights so it was easy for Sansa to slip out without them knowing. She’d kept her promise to Jon too, all Jeyne knew is that he wasn’t what she thought. This way, she wasn’t fibbing to her parents or needing to sneak out of her house. Sansa didn’t want to break rules but she also wanted to be with Jon. “You won’t tell anyone, will you?”

“I would never! You’re my best girlfriend, Sansa. Besides, I’ll pound him into the ground if he breaks your heart.”

“He won’t,” she said confidently.

Jeyne didn’t answer, choosing to hand over her matching red purse instead. “Put on more lipstick before you go. You want the red?”

The blonde girl in polka dot shorts had on red lipstick. “Pink.” Sansa put more on before pinching her cheeks.

“Be back before eleven so my parents don’t catch us.”

Sansa nodded her head. “I will. Thank you.”

She almost ran through Jeyne’s house, it was nearly as big as hers, before calming opening the front door. Jon waited until eight to pick her up so it would be dark outside.

“Oh, you’re beautiful.” Jon scratched his neck. He wore the sad-eyed expression she was coming to recognize, the one that always set her heart to thumping. He was smiling though. “You ready?”

Sansa wondered how Jon would feel if she called him handsome. He was dressed neatly, in a nice pair of chinos and a blue button-up shirt. It was close to what her brother would wear. He’d also been so anxious while telling her his story the other day. He’d been rubbing his arms and the car seat while squirming almost the entire time. She decided to keep silent. “I am.” Jon took her hand but led her to an unfamiliar Ford. “I didn’t know you had a car,” she said dumbly. Sansa wanted to kick herself.

“It’s not mine.” He opened the passenger door and helped her in before coming around to the other side. “I borrowed it from Mr. Noye in exchange for promising not to cut school anymore.”

Jon sounded embarrassed. “That was very kind of him.”

“Yeah. How long do we have until you need to be back?”

“Three hours.” Jon smiled and something about it made her want to clap her hands and squeal but she wasn’t a little girl; Sansa was turning seventeen in two months. She kept both hands in her lap. “Where are we going?”

“I thought we could drive over to Cerwyn and eat there if you want.” He said that last part haltingly, almost forming a question.

“I would love it.” Jon pulled away to take them to the next town over. Sansa was on cloud 9, floating along the whole way there. It was her first real date with Jon Snow and she thought he might even kiss her at the end of it. Sansa would let him if he asked.

They went to the local car hop in Cerwyn, it was perfect. Jon parked the car and opened her door again, like a proper gentleman. They found a table at the very back, just the two of them. Not a single person recognized her.

“You want a quarter for the jukebox?”

She did. Sansa poured over the song menu trying to decide before glancing back at Jon. He was staring at her, she thought he might have been the entire time. She knew what the first song needed to be. Sansa selected two of her favorites after that and returned to their table.

“What did you pick?” The song started and Jon smirked. “My girl likes lollipops.”

“She does.”

Jon leaned across the table, laying his hand on it with the palm up. “No one knows us here. We can hold hands if we want.”

Her heart was pattering again. She put her hand in his own and noticed his fingers. There was much less black than usual which made her wonder how long he’d scrubbed to try and clean up. The effort was for her. Sansa ached for him, she knew what others thought of Jon but they were wrong.

“You know what you want to eat?” he asked.

Sansa’s mother told her it wasn’t seemly for a girl to eat very much on a first date. She’d only eaten some grapefruit and some toast for breakfast that morning though. Her stomach had been all twisted up in knots and she’d barely been able to finish it. “A burger and fries. And a Cherry Coke.”

He liked that. “I want the same thing.” They put their orders in and the sounds of the restaurant faded away until it was only the two of them. “What was your favorite book?”

“Pardon?”

“At the school library, you showed me your favorite book. I wanted to know what you liked reading.”

“You want to know what I read?” Sansa was gobsmacked. Girls were supposed to ask boys those sorts of questions. Harry liked it when she did that but he only ever wanted to talk about sports. Jon nodded. She didn’t want to tell him romances for girls though; that was embarrassing. “Series books mostly and old classics.”

“Moby Dick?”

Sansa gave him a horrified look. “Dullsville.” Jon cackled. She wondered if their first date could be any more magical. When he kissed her, it would be then. It was her turn to ask a question. “Do you like to dance?”

Jon did not expect that. “That’s a complicated question.”

“No, it isn’t.” She was grinning at the idea of dancing with him.

“I guess it would depend on my dancing partner,” he said quietly.

She was back on cloud 9.

They ate slowly, neither of them wanting the date to end but it was growing late and Sansa wanted to make sure she was safely back at Jeyne’s before the Pooles came home. She knew her friend would be hammering her questions almost from the moment she walked through the door too and Sansa didn’t know yet how much she wanted to tell. Jon wasn’t exactly her secret anymore but she wanted some parts of him to be.

They drove back to Winterfell holding hands as much as possible. A part of her was tempted to snuggle close to him so Jon could put his arm over her but it was a first date and she decided that was too fast.

“I want to take you out again next weekend,” he said. They were parked in front of Jeyne’s house. Neither of them were eager to get out yet. “I want to take you out a lot of weekends.”

She wanted that too. “My brother has a football game Friday. I could Saturday. Jeyne’s parents always go out on the weekends.”

“Saturday.” Jon turned and moved closer to her. She knew what he was about to ask. “Can I kiss you?”

“Yes.”

Jon kept his hands by his side but he was staring at her lips. Sansa leaned in towards him but wasn’t sure what else to do.

“I can’t believe I’m about to kiss you.”

Her lips parted and her breath caught. Then their lips touched, melding together in a sweet urgency. His tongue was soft and his mouth warm. It made her stomach flip. She could have kissed him all night. A part of her wanted too.

Finally, they broke away but sat so close, their hot breath blended together. Jeyne said Jon would be gone for her. Sansa knew she was gone for him.

“We’re going steady now,” he rasped.

“We are.” It was all she could think to say.

“Can I kiss you again?”

“I want you to kiss me again.” He did.

  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Anyone recognize the car Jon was so excited to be working on? Here's a hint:  
> Why this car is automatic  
> It's systematic  
> It's hydromatic  
> Why it's grease lightning (grease lightning)
> 
> Also, The Blob was coming out right around the time of this chapter and it was one of the biggest movies of the year. That was in Grease as well. Still not a Grease AU!  
> Stranded at the drive-in  
> Branded a fool


	5. Chapter 5

Jon never saw anyone eat a pizza pie the way Sansa did before. She daintily cut her slice into small pieces and dabbed at her lips after almost every bite. “Do you always eat like that?”

She paused, fork already halfway to her mouth. “Pizza can get real grody. How do you eat it?”

“Like this.” Jon folded his slice in half and ate a big bite. His cheeks puffed up from the effort.

Sansa wrinkled her nose up prettily. “My little brothers would approve of your rude manners.” Her eyes twinkled from amusement rather than offense. 

She’d mentioned her family before, the rugrats were Bran and Rickon but Jon never met them and probably never would. He wasn’t the sort Sansa could take home to meet her mom and pop or ask to come over for a pot roast Sunday dinner. “I’ll teach them to eat with nothing but a knife.”

“I think Bran learned how in the Boy Scouts.” 

Jon wouldn’t know. He’d never been in the Boy Scouts. “Sounds real swell.” 

The waitress brought their check and he picked it up. Jon chose Papa Joe’s Pizza Parlor because it was far away in Cerwyn and cost only twenty cents for a slice of cheese pizza. He’d never gone steady before but he knew it was the boy’s job to pay for their dates. The only problem was taking his girl out on dates every weekend cost Jon a lot of bread and he only had so much. Shame filled him at the idea of Sansa learning any of this though. He doubted her brother ever worried about paying to take a girl out, he’d never even had a job.  Jon paid and the two of them held hands as they walked to Mr. Noye’s old Ford. 

Inside the car, he turned on the radio and the Everly Brothers started up. Jon wanted to turn it right back off again but Sansa started to sway her head. “Whenever I want you, all I have to do is dream, dream, dream,” she crooned along to the music. 

He twisted in his seat to face her, putting his arm along the back. “You have a real pretty voice.” She sounded like his mother some. She’d play Perry Como or Frank Sinatra and Jon caught her dancing with herself more than once. 

Sansa quieted and placed her hands firmly in her lap. Jon thought she might even be blushing a little. “I enjoy singing.”

He could picture her sitting in her bedroom, listening to a record player and doing the very same as his mother. It was a lovely image. “Why don’t you come sit closer?” He patted the empty space between them on the bench seat. “I’d like to put my arm around you.” He made sure to sound confident, like it was nothing at all. 

She craned her neck forward, eyeballing the empty space. There was nothing there. “This is our third date,” she said, deliberating. Sansa bit her lip and scooted closer.

“I won’t cop a feel,” he promised. Still, Jon hoped they’d get some kissing in soon. 

“I never thought you would.” She leaned her head on his shoulder and he put an arm across hers, taking care not to touch anything he shouldn’t. “Where we going next?”

Jon swallowed. “We could go cruising some or maybe go parking.” He knew what he preferred but the choice was hers. 

“You want to make out?” 

“Only a little necking, if you want,” Jon said cautiously. “It’d still be swell if we only talked. I want to spend more time with you, that’s all.” It was Saturday night and he wasn’t going to end it until the very moment her curfew started. He wished they had more but he’d take what he could get. 

The seconds passed and the song ended. “Cruising is more fun when we have friends along. Let’s park a little since I don’t have to be back until eleven.”

Jon was buzzing. “Let’s go.” He goosed it out of the restaurant’s parking lot and drove them back to Winterfell. Sansa did a little jump next to him and smiled with excitement. “You wanna know something? I was working on a cherry Pontiac when you found me at Noye’s. It was a rag top and I pictured us in it just like this.” Sansa sat close enough so their hips and thighs touched. He squeezed her shoulder and her smile grew. wider. She was buzzing too. 

“You were thinking of me?” Sansa sounded as if she didn’t quite believe it. Jon wanted to say he thought about her all the damn time but decided not to. “It’s a dreamy picture.”

In his picture, it was the daytime and they weren’t hiding. “Yeah, it was,” he said somewhat sheepishly. Jon’s pals would be ragging him hard if they heard him talking like he was. 

He pulled into the Winterfell town park and came to a stop as far from the street lights as he could get. Jon didn’t want them to be seen. The radio was still playing but he turned it down low so they could better talk. 

Sansa moved away and swiveled her head about. “We’re all alone.” 

“Why do you think I brought you here?” Jon wanted to start kissing her but made himself wait. She wasn’t that sort of girl and he had a question for her. “I want to ask you something about next weekend.” Jon had put off asking all night. 

“Where are we going next weekend?” she asked sweetly. Sansa assumed they’d be going for another date together. He’d been thinking the very same. 

“My friends are having a bash next Saturday and I want you to come. It’s time I show you off.” He grinned, all confident and sure but his guts were churning. The gang was hanging out together in one of the fields they used for racing when Tormund suddenly announced their leader had a ginger kitten hidden away in Cerwyn. Pyp worried Jon would pound him for telling the secret but it turned out Tormund saw them together while sharing a milkshake at the soda shop. 

Sansa nervously pulled away from him. “Your friends don’t like me, Jon. I tried to be polite but they were rude.”

“They will when they know you. My pals and I don’t always have good experiences with your kind.”

“What is my kind?” she asked sharply.

He drew in a breath. “Rich with a nice house and a family.”

“I’m not rich.” She stared down into her lap where her hands twisted together. “I’m very sorry you’re friends had unpleasant experiences.”

She was apologizing for something she never even did and he didn’t know why. None of it was her fault. “It doesn’t matter. We’ll show ‘em they were wrong, together.” He stroked the edge of her hair, close to her ear. Sansa kept her hair long which he knew wasn’t super fashionable right now. She still put soft waves in it up on top. “You’re beautiful and I’d like to show my girl off.” 

Sansa tilted her head up to better meet his eyes. “Stay close to me.”

“Peas and carrots.”

“I’ll go with you then.”

“Well, that’s swell.” Jon slid towards her and held out his arms. “Why don’t you come closer?” Sansa did. It was getting harder to hold back from kissing her. She smelled sweet like flowers. Her skin was smooth. He wanted to touch her everywhere but he knew the rules too, nothing above the knees or below the neck. Sansa made it clear she wasn’t fast and Jon didn’t want her thinking he saw her that way. 

The Red Viper came on the radio to announce the next song and then howled. Sansa jumped which brought her even closer to him. He liked to think she did it on purpose. “Why does he do that?”

Jon knew. “So girls will get scared and fall into their boyfriend’s arms.”

She made a little sound and Jon couldn’t take it anymore. He leaned in to kiss her and Sansa’s mouth parted for him. Jon angled his head and took the kiss deeper, using his tongue to probe and taste her. Sansa almost melted against him and he felt her hands against his chest. Jon wanted to ask her to touch him more but he held himself back. Instead, he went on kissing her until they were both panting and their lips were swollen.

Jon broke away, gasping. “You taste good.”

Sansa’s eyes went round with excitement. “What do I taste like?” She almost purred the question which only made him want to go kiss her some more. 

“Sweet, like lollipops,” he answered. It was the most romantic thing Jon could think of. Sansa mewled, turning her mouth into a perfect little O. 

He went right back to kissing her, putting one hand on the nape of her neck to better tilt her head up for a kiss. After a little while, Jon decided to chance it, putting his other hand on her leg, right above her knee. Sansa’s only response was to continue on. 

Jon thought he could stay in the car with her all night long but all the windows eventually steamed up and her curfew drew close. Reluctantly, he kissed her one last time and started the car to take her back to Jeyne’s. 

 

Tuesday, he sat across from her as the teacher returned a quiz. Jon couldn’t see Sansa’s sheet of paper but her bright-eyed expression offered enough of a hint to guess the grade. His girlfriend was smart and she took school seriously, more than he ever did. He gazed down at his own test and used a textbook to cover the big D on the front. The first question asked him to identify the three branches of government. He’d answered leafy, broken, and bare. At the time, Jon nearly busted a gut but it wasn’t so funny now. The question was an easy one and he’d known the answer. He’d care more if it was a class that mattered, like shop. 

He waited until the clanging bell emptied the classroom of other students before talking to her except she got to him first.

“I got an A. This class isn’t nearly so interesting as home ec but it’s not horrible like math.”

“Of course you did, my girl is smart,” he said with pride. For the first time, Jon wondered if she planned to go to college after graduation. It probably depended upon what her father thought about girls going to college. “I got a B, should have studied more,” he lied.

“I’d be grateful for a B in math. I hate it, I truly do,” she spat. 

“I know.” He didn’t want to talk about math or studying anymore. “Can you meet me in the library again today?”

Her face fell. “Jeyne wants to sit next to Theon and my brother for lunch. I promised her.”

He got her. Jeyne was helping them out and it was only fair. Her friend had a big crush on Theon Greyjoy although Jon couldn’t figure out why. He was nothing more than a loud-mouthed square who thought a flattop was a good choice for a haircut. “Tomorrow?”

“Tomorrow and maybe the day after.” 

Jon glanced around to make sure but the teacher was at his desk ignoring them. He planted a quick kiss on her lips, fast enough so they wouldn’t get caught. “Catch my girl later.” 

At lunch, he popped his collar, picked up his lunch tray, and sauntered out to the bleachers to eat with his pals. Jon didn’t know how the cafeteria managed to turn sloppy joes and tapioca pudding into an unappetizing pile of yuck. He sat next to Pyp and placed the tray up on the bleacher above him. 

“Who else is hanging at Noye’s after school?” he asked. 

“I am all week,” answered Pyp. He grabbed the carton of milk off his tray, pulling his jacket sleeve up to reveal a fading green bruise covering his wrist. His pop was on a bender again.

“Can you come over after? My mother is working tonight and I got the latest issue of  _ Hot Rod  _ to look at,” he invited. Jon hoped it came out as no big deal, Pyp would be embarrassed if Jon noticed. It was all he could think to do. Once or twice, cops showed up at his house but nothing ever happened. 

“Yeah, thanks man,” his friend answered.

A short distance away, Sansa sat with her usual crowd at one of the lunch tables outside. She seemed deep in conversation with her friend Jeyne. If she noticed him spying on her, Jon couldn’t tell. They’d spent lunch together plenty of times but they’d never eaten lunch together, not like any of the other couples going steady. 

“How come you’re over here and she’s over there?” asked Tormund. 

It was a challenge. This wasn’t the first time Jon had been asked about her. “She wanted to eat with her friend.”

“She wants to eat with her friend almost every day.”

“Better friend than any of you punks,” Jon shot back which got him a few pelts of laughter. “A whole lot prettier too.” 

“You should go talk to her,” said Tormund. 

Definitely a challenge. It only made Jon more determined to take her out with his pals that weekend. His gang was starting to wonder why he was dating a girl who didn’t want to be around them. 

“Jon can’t. He’s shy around girls,” said Pyp. “Mostly he follows her around, mooning over her like a dipshit.”

“He probably gets on his knees, begging her to kiss him,” said Grenn before his voice went high-pitched. “Oh, Sansa. Please kiss me. I’ve never been kissed by a girl before.” He started making a bunch of kissing noises. 

Jon shoved him but said nothing. As if knowing they were talking about her, Sansa glanced in his direction and he liked to think their eyes met. He wanted to wave but that would only make it worse. He stood up. “Well, gentleman, as the only one with a girlfriend, get bent.” He gave them a two-fingered salute and left. They could take care of his lunch tray. 

*****

Sansa’s efforts to have Jeyne sit next to Theon for lunch that day failed. She felt all sorts of sorry for her friend but she knew Theon didn’t have those sorts of feelings for her. Robb hinted once or twice that Theon had gone all the way and, if that was true, well, Jeyne wasn’t that sort of girl. 

“You two wanna go hang out at Hot Pies after school today?” Robb asked.

Sansa glanced up towards the bleachers where she knew Jon would be. She wondered if there was a way to let him know she’d be at Hot Pies. He looked in her direction but she didn’t think he saw her. “Jeyne, you want to go?” she asked, already knowing the answer.

Her eyes went round but all she said was, “Boss.” She went back to picking at her food. Jeyne made a point not to eat when boys were around. Normally, Sansa agreed, but Robb and Theon didn’t count. “Are you still able to come over Saturday night? I need help with that new dress I’m making.”

“Wouldn’t miss it,” Sansa answered. She had the best friend ever. Jeyne was the only reason Sansa was able to see Jon at all. Under the table, she grabbed her friend’s hand to squeeze a thank you. 

“Patrek Mallister is having a party this Saturday if you two want to come,” offered Robb. She had the best big brother ever too, letting his little sister tag along with him. 

“Dickon Tarly is coming,” said Theon. “Didn’t you go to dinner at the club with them a few weeks back?”

“Yes,” she said quietly. Sansa wasn’t hungry anymore. She didn’t have an excuse to say no. 

“I have to get up early to visit my grandparents,” Jeyne piped up. “We can’t go.” It was all a lie for her. 

Sansa needed to find a boy for Jeyne too. Only, if she did, Sansa wouldn’t have a place to spend her Saturdays at. Did Jon have a greaser friend Jeyne would like? Sansa wasn’t sure but maybe she could ask Jon. 

“Don’t look now, but a certain dreamy boy in a leather jacket is walking towards you,” Jeyne whispered in her ear. 

Sansa looked anyways, he was coming from the direction of the bleachers. His collar was popped and he wore a black t-shirt today. Jon moved in a straight line right towards where she sat. “What do you think he wants?” she quietly hissed.

“A kiss and a tickle,” her friend guessed. 

Robb and Theon were filling their spoons with tapioca pudding and lobbing them at each other, completely unaware of Jon coming towards them. Sansa didn’t see a need to let them know. 

She stared at Jeyne, frantic. If Robb knew she was going steady with Jon Snow, her parents would know. He was still her secret. Her friend shook her head ever so slightly, Jeyne wouldn’t say a word. 

“Hello, Jon,” she said cordially when he stopped at her side of the table.

“Hi,” he said in a flat sort of voice but stayed quiet after that, leaving her with the impression he wasn’t sure what else to say any more than she did. 

Robb and Theon stopped their stupid food fight to stare at Jon curiously. She needed to do something.

“This is Jon Snow. He sits next to me in Chemistry. I owe him a big thank you for helping me with the last test,” she lied. “He’s much better at the math part than I am.”

Jon opened his mouth and then shut it before darting a glance towards her brother. He always seemed cool in front of her, she’d never seen him uncomfortable before. 

Robb stood and offered his hand. “I’m Robb Stark. Nice to meet you,” he said politely. Her brother always did have good manners. Not as good as hers, of course. That was obvious. “Thanks for your help. My sister thinks two and two equals five.”

Theon laughed but didn’t say anything.

“That isn’t true,” Sansa protested. “Besides, you wouldn’t have passed English last year if I didn’t write your essays for you.” 

Theon laughed harder. 

Jon shuffled one of his feet. “Swell meeting you.”

Her heart thumped but not in the usual way it did when she was close to Jon. He’d hinted at past experiences with her kind before. She wondered if he half expected a different sort of greeting. Did Jon think there would be a rumble in the school courtyard? The very idea appalled her. 

She needed to say something, only Sansa didn’t know what to say.

“I’ve seen you around before, haven’t I?” Jeyne asked. “At Hot Pies, I think. We’re going there again today. It’s one of my favorite places.” Jeyne was the swellest, most best, ginchiest friend a girl could ever have.

Jon carefully kept his focus on Jeyne but Sansa knew he was talking to her. “Best milkshakes in town. Maybe I’ll see you there sometime. Also, you can borrow my notes again if you want.” Jon never took notes, Sansa didn’t think he even knew how. 

“Thank you.”

“Catch you later, Sansa.” He left right after leaving Sansa to wonder what made him come see her in the first place. 

She wished they could eat lunch together in the courtyard or share a table at Hot Pies after school. Sansa wanted to invite him over for Sunday dinner too. Her mother would never approve of him though.

“I think your sister has herself a crush,” joked Theon.

“Don’t matter. Why would a greaser be interested in my little sister?”  

Sansa didn’t know why either. The two of them went back to talking football and Jon Snow was forgotten about. 

Ned Stark sat at the head of the table, reading his newspaper and eating that night’s dinner of meatloaf and mashed potatoes. Rickon sat opposite her, wearing that silly coonskin hat he always wore. Sometimes, he even insisted on wearing it to bed. 

“What’s going on in the world, Daddy?” She always loved asking her father this. He’d always smile when answering her.

Ned glanced above the pages of the Winterfell Gazette and smiled. “Hurricane Helene is causing all sorts of damage in the Carolinas. Lots of clean up.”

“That’s horrible.” She’d never seen a hurricane before but they sounded miserable. 

“I met one of Sansa’s friends at school today. A greaser boy who helps her with Chemistry,” Robb said, piping up all the sudden. Sansa thought he was too busy piling yucky meatloaf into his mouth to say anything. She’d hoped he’d forgotten.

“He helped me with the math parts. Our last names are close so he sits next to me.”

Her father only hummed an answer but her mother did not. “What is this boy’s name?” she asked.

“Jon Snow,” Sansa answered. Arya stared at her at the name but didn’t say a word. Sansa was still doing all her home ec work and she knew her little sister wouldn't give that up easily. “He’s helped me with the math parts, that’s all.” 

“Have you seen him outside of school?” Catelyn Stark asked.

“No, I think he has his own friends,” Sansa said and then went on to change the subject, “Jeyne asked me over again Saturday night. She needs help finishing a new dress that she wants to wear over to her grandparents the next day.”

Catelyn nodded approvingly. “Ned?”

“Fine.”

Robb started talking about the football game against Cerwyn in a couple weeks and her secret was safe a little longer. 

She’d never lied so much in her life but no one in her family expected Sansa Stark to fib which made it all easier somehow. She was going to Jeyne’s that night too but she wouldn't be staying there the whole time. Sansa returned to delicately cutting a piece of food and listening to Bran talk about his weekend plans with the Boy Scouts. Her and Jon Snow were forgotten about.

*****

One of the good things about taking Sansa to a bash was that he didn’t have to buy dinner first. It was important to him to pay for their dates but it was expensive too. The best thing, bash or not, was that he’d be spending another Saturday night with his girl. Jon wanted to show her off to everyone.

Jon could hear his mother in their kitchen, listening to Perry Como and singing the lyrics in her slightly off-key voice before stopping to call his name. 

“Pilot light out again?”

“One of these days, we’ll get an electric stove.”

The old stove’s pilot light died on them a couple times a week. Jon didn’t mind, he was used to it by now. “What are we having for dinner?”

“Tuna on toast and peas.”

Jon helped his mother pull ingredients from the ice box and poured them each a glass of water from the sink. They sat, enjoying each other’s company while eating their dinner. His mother had a strict rule about turning the radio off while they ate. “What are you going to do tonight?”

Lyanna Snow laughed. “Your mother is an old woman. I’ll drink some tea and read a magazine before bed.” His mother was younger than Sansa’s parents and he bet they went out sometimes. Lyanna Snow hardly ever did. Jon had a vague memory of her dating someone when he was young, a big man with intense blue eyes. He’d called Jon a brat one day and he didn’t remember seeing the man ever again. They never spoke about him. “What are you doing tonight?”

“The gang is having a bash of sorts. Bringing the cars out to the racing field for some fun.” Jon hoped Sansa enjoyed it. There would be music and she could dance if she wanted. 

Lyanna grabbed his chin and stroked with her thumb. “You be careful of racing. You’re eighteen now.”

“I’m not racing, I swear.” Besides, if he did, Jon would be careful not to get caught. 

“I saw Donal Noye at the A&P earlier today.”

“I didn’t do nothing,” Jon said real quick. His mother stared at him suspiciously. “I didn’t.” He hoped Mr. Noye didn’t tell her that he’d played hooky from school. It would only make his mother worry. 

“Mr. Noye is a good man, offering all you boys jobs the way he does. Have you thought about working for him after you graduate?”

Jon thought about it a heck of a lot. “Sometimes.”

They finished eating and it was his turn to clean the dishes afterwards. Jon left them to drip dry and said good night to his mother. She’d probably be asleep when he got home. Outside, Jon waved his hand along the side of his beloved Triumph. “Soon, we’re taking Sansa for a ride. Real soon.” He started it up to drive over to Mr. Noye’s garage where the old Ford waited for him. Jon traded it out and rode across town to the different world where his girl lived.

It was time for her to finally meet his gang.

  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A few small things:
> 
> 1\. To better explain Jon's worry over expenses, he probably made 35-40 cents an hour. He's not trying to be cheap but the expenses would realistically be a growing problem. It would absolutely be expected of him as a boy to cover all dating related expenses.   
> 2\. The fifties gave rise to the idea of "dating" as we now know it but the rules of dating then were a lot more strict than they are now. The most popular girls teen magazine at the point of this story was Seventeen. I read some articles from it during this time. Fascinating stuff, I'll say that.  
> 3\. Parking was a really big deal. I saw a video aimed at teens that demonstrated a handshake as the proper way to end dates. The reality? Several towns actually tried to deal with teens going parking rather than stopping it. Establishing official parking places was surprisingly common. Who knew?


End file.
